Department for Transport

Tourism

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contingency plans his Department has considered for compensating (a) tour operators, (b) airlines and (c) UK travellers for consequential losses in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from the travel industry on aviation safety in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: Ministers regularly meet with representatives from the aviation industry to discuss the implications of EU exit on aviation, including safety, and to ensure their requirements are factored into preparations. We are confident of agreeing our future partnership with the EU, including on aviation, but we have a duty to plan for the alternative. The Department’s aviation technical notices and the EU’s published plans for aviation contingency preparations, updated with proposed EU regulations on 19 December, clearly demonstrate that, in the unlikely event of no deal, both sides are committed to maintaining connectivity. In addition, the Government has introduced legislation to ensure that the UK exits the EU with maximum certainty and continuity - the European Union (Withdrawal) Act will convert EU law as it stands at the moment of exit into domestic law, meaning that the same rules and laws will apply on the day after exit as on the day before. This means that after exit the same safety rules will continue to apply. The UK is committed to maintaining current levels of safety and will continue to strive to improve on these after leaving the EU. Being outside the EU will not change the UK’s approach to aviation safety. The SI, the draft Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018, that was laid before Parliament in draft on 28 November, makes the changes needed to ensure that retained EU legislation on air passenger rights continues to function correctly under any scenario. This will help to provide continuity and certainty to industry and consumers.

Large Goods Vehicles

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many operators, by region, has the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has signed off with Goods Vehicle Operators on the basis of earned recognition.

Jesse Norman: As of 19 December 2018, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has signed off (accredited) 59 goods vehicle operators into its earned recognition scheme. An operator can apply for up to eight goods vehicle operator licences. The number of goods vehicle operator licences by region breakdown is as follows: Number of goods vehicle operator licencesNorth East27North West31West Midlands23East England27Wales13South West26London Metropolitan23Scotland20

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many letters have been sent in the last three months by WSP Land Services on behalf of HS2 to Chesham and Amersham residents on preparing and serving the relevant notices for surveys and possession for constructing the railway.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: 184 letters were sent to residents (postcodes beginning HP5 – HP8 and HP16) in the last three months by WSP Land Services on preparing and serving the relevant notices. These letters were issued to solicit further information regarding property ownership/occupation, and to refresh data to ensure current accuracy ahead of service of notice.

High Speed Two Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the BBC Panorama programme of 17 November 2018, what assessment he has made of the validity of the reports on that programme of the financial situation of HS2.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The HS2 land and property budget has evolved as the programme has developed. The Government welcomed the National Audit Office (NAO) report in September 2018 into the HS2 Phase One property acquisition programme. The report found that the property cost estimate had increased significantly from 2012 to 2017 and set out that this kind of change was to be expected on a large complex project such as HS2. The NAO noted that the increase included route changes as a result of public consultation, in response to the requests of petitioners during the parliamentary process leading up to Royal Assent and the introduction of additional property compensation schemes. There is also the fact that detailed land cost assessments were not possible until after Royal Assent was achieved, and re-assessing land values from 2011 prices. The Government followed the correct process in terms of how it updated Parliament of the Phase One property costs. As reported by the NAO, HS2 Ltd has forecasted that the cost to acquire land and property for Phase One of the route would be £3,356 million.

Aviation: Technology

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of electronic conspicuity devices on safety in general aviation.

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of electronic conspicuity devices in general aviation.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s assessment of the effect of electronic conspicuity on the safety of General Aviation, and the steps it plans to take, are set out in Aviation 2050 The future of UK aviation (Command Paper 9714). The Government state that “The development of emerging technologies such as electronic conspicuity devices… can be exploited to ensure that an acceptable level of safety is maintained” and propose that “there should be mandatory identification of all aircraft in UK airspace” and that it “will work with the CAA and other stakeholders (including international partners) on the best way to achieve this.” The Government is consulting on this document until 11 April 2019.

Ports: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library the Government's full plans to facilitate traffic flows (a) into, (b) through and (c) around Welsh ports after 29 March 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: Responsibility for the plans to facilitate traffic flows around ports in Wales rests with the Welsh Assembly. The Government has been working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to support their planning.

Railways: Skilled Workers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to ensure the maintenance of a skilled workforce in the rail industry after the UK leaves the EU.

Andrew Jones: On 6 December, Government and industry published the Rail Sector Deal to strengthen collaboration and improve the productivity of the sector. The Government will take steps to provide even greater certainty to the rail industry about the profile of future spending, to give enhanced confidence to the industry to invest in Research & Development, people and skills. The industry is committed to: refreshing the Rail Sector Skills Delivery Plan; running a pilot in the Midlands to encourage SMEs both to increase the uptake of apprenticeships in the rail industry and to test how shared apprenticeships can work; a schools engagement programme to better target the promotion and attraction that rail companies undertake; and conduct a feasibility study for a Digital Railway Academy. East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, has also become the first train operator to trial the UK’s first level 3 Train Driver Apprenticeship Programme as part of the National Driver Academy. This is a project which will recruit a new generation of drivers with the skills and management to provide passengers with better, more reliable journeys. In 2016 DfT set ambitions through the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy to increase apprenticeships in road and rail bodies to help address skills shortages in the transport sector and ensure that the transport sector has the capacity and capability to deliver planned investment. DfT works in collaboration with employers across the sector through an industry body, The Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT) to deliver these ambitions. Network Rail, HS2, the Rail Delivery Group, the National Skills Academy for Rail and TfL are members of STAT. So far, over 5000 apprenticeships have been created in road and rail bodies. Since 2017, The Department for Transport has used its procurement to drive apprenticeship numbers through contracts, including those within the rail industry.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of drivers that have received fines for not renewing their road tax since the removal of the physical tax disc.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle excise duty evasion. These range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of automatic number plate recognition cameras, wheel clamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles. The last Roadside Survey in June 2017 showed that more than 98% of vehicles were properly licensed. This demonstrates that the vast majority of motorists comply with their legal obligations. Since the tax disc was abolished in October 2014, the DVLA has issued 4.4 million penalties to registered keepers of unlicensed vehicles.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on sending out reminders to drivers to renew their road tax; and for what reason some drivers do not receive reminders.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) issues vehicle excise duty reminders to customers up to four weeks before the tax expires. The DVLA issues more than three million reminder letters each month. Complaints about non-delivery are rare, which suggests that the service works well for the majority of vehicle keepers. Occasionally vehicle keepers may not receive a reminder. This is often because the keeper may have moved house and not advised the DVLA of the new address, or the letter may have gone astray.

Railway Stations: Repairs and Maintenance

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and which rail stations have (a) undertaken work in the last five years and (b) planned work within the next two years to improve access arrangements.

Andrew Jones: Over the last five years a further 68 stations were added to the Department’s Access for All programme which provides an accessible route at selected stations. A further £300m has recently been made available to further extend the programme until at least 2024 and we will announce details of which stations will benefit from this in April. Details of individual Access for All projects are available on Network Rail’s website. This is in addition to access improvements delivered as part of other major projects, such as the 40 Crossrail stations which will be made accessible, and by the industry itself, which must meet current accessibility standards whenever it installs, replace or renews station infrastructure. Details of all of this work is held by the individual organisations and the details of the accessibility features available at all UK stations are published on the National Rail Enquiries website.

Department for Transport: Fraud

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 21 of the Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2018, to what incident or incidents the £111.2 million for detected error refers.

Jesse Norman: The total figure almost entirely refers to a planned payment of £110.5 million being made by the Core Department to Network Rail, which was processed in error by Arvato, the Department for Transport’s Shared Services provider. A bank account number was incorrectly transposed on the payment request and as the bank account number did not exist, the payment was put into a holding account. The error was detected promptly by the Department: appropriate action was taken to secure funds and the payment was then correctly made to Network Rail on the same day with no financial loss to the Department. As a result of the error, both the Core Department and Arvato have reviewed and tightened its payment process to avoid similar errors in the future. The remaining £0.7 million of errors relate to miscellaneous items in the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency and Maritime & Coastguard Agency. Again, no losses were incurred.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the accounting officer for his Department has requested a written ministerial direction for expenditure on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: Bernadette Kelly, the accounting officer for DfT sought a written ministerial direction on 7th February 2018 for expenditure on EU Exit preparations. The details can be found herehttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-exit-preparations-dft-ministerial-direction.No other ministerial directions have been sought.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Business

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has contacted businesses by letter in the last three months to provide information on (a) the UK leaving the EU and (b) the Withdrawal Agreement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department uses several communications channels to reach a wide range of businesses to discuss a range of issues, including on EU exit. This includes regular meetings with businesses, such as Sector Councils and Growth Partnerships, media campaigns, phone calls, emails, letters, press releases and social media.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to publish proposals on ensuring equitable reward for small scale renewable energy producers exporting to the grid.

Claire Perry: We published a call for evidence on the future of small-scale low-carbon generation in the summer and we intend to follow this up with a consultation on proposals for future arrangements in due course.

Innovation and Science

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the planned publication date is of the third wave of the Science and Innovation Audits.

Chris Skidmore: The wave three Science and Innovation Audit (SIA) reports will be published in due course.

Electricity: Costs

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report entitled, Cost of energy: independent review, published by his Department in August 2017, if he will make it his policy to place all electricity policy costs into a single levy; and exempt energy intensive industry from those costs.

Claire Perry: We have taken a range of actions to reduce the cost of electricity for energy intensive industries, including a package of relief worth over £850 million since 2013, supplemented by the announcement of a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund at the Budget. As my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy made clear in his speech of 15th November 2018 (available on gov.uk), a full exemption from all historic policy costs for all industry would add around £1.5 billion to household bills by 2020, and any future decisions must take full account of the impacts on other bill payers.

Iron and Steel: Energy

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate the Government has made of the cost of energy in the steel sectors in the (a) UK, (b) Germany and (c) France.

Richard Harrington: An estimate based on the latest ONS data available shows energy costs in 2016 for the manufacture of basic iron and steel in the UK at £1.5bn[1]. Eurostat data is not published at a detailed enough level to allow for a robust estimate of energy costs specific to the steel sector for different EU countries. The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. As announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018, £315 million is being provided for an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects to bring energy costs down for vital industries, including the steel sector. Furthermore, our Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme is now open to applications for feasibility and/or preliminary engineering studies. We will publish our response to the consultation on widening eligibility for the exemption schemes for energy intensive industries in due course. We also continue to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy intensive industries. This includes a package of relief for these industries worth over £850 million since 2013, of which £271m has been provided to the steel sector in compensation as of 30 November 2018.[1] ONS Input-Output Supply Use Tables. Data for 2016. Energy costs defined as the intermediate consumption from Manufacture of Basic Iron and Steel (24.1-3) of; Coal and lignite (05); Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas (06) + Metal Ores (07); Coke and refined petroleum products (19); Electricity, transmission and distribution (35.1); and Gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains; steam and air conditioning supply (35.2-.3).

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Energy and Clean Growth of 20 November 2018, Official Report, column 701, when he plans to publish proposals on rewarding small-scale renewables that export to the grid.

Claire Perry: We published a call for evidence on the future of small-scale low-carbon generation in the summer and we intend to follow this up with a consultation on proposals for future arrangements shortly.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Migrant Workers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to cover the £65 application fee for the resettlement process for EU Nationals employed by his Department after March 2019.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has been made of the potential risk of the £65 application fee for the resettlement process to the retention of EU Nationals employed by his Department.

Richard Harrington: The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status Fee for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of a UK passport. We value the significant contribution made by EU citizens working in the Civil Service and we want these colleagues to continue to play a full role in the work of the Civil Service. We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service, the important engagement with EU national networks across government will continue over the coming months.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Written Statement of 18 December 2018, Public Spending, HCWS 1205, if he will publish the budget headlines under which he plans to allocate the £190 million funding in relation to preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Kelly Tolhurst: On 18 December, my rt. hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury confirmed Departmental allocations for EU Exit funding for 2019/20 including £190 million for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The Department is undertaking an internal allocation process as part of 2019/20 planning.

Magnox Reactors: Plutonium

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which of the nine civil Magnox nuclear power stations were modified to enable the production of military grade plutonium.

Richard Harrington: The Magnox stations at Calder Hall and Chapelcross were designed for the purpose of plutonium production. The only other reactor that was modified to allow for plutonium production was at Hinkley Point A, however it was never used in this way.

Magnox Reactors: Plutonium

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which Magnox reactors based in the UK have produced military grade plutonium.

Richard Harrington: The Magnox stations at Calder Hall and Chapelcross were historically used for the production of plutonium.

Solar Power: Feed-in Tariffs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Department has made of the potential effect on the number of households choosing to install solar panels of the cessation of payment for excess electricity exported to the grid by solar households.

Claire Perry: This is publicly available information: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/767081/FITs_2018_Consultation__Response_Impact_Assessment_signed.pdf.

Audit: Climate Change

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that the audit industry supports the assessment and disclosure of climate-related financial risk.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Companies Act 2006 requires companies to include a description of their principal risks, and how they are managed, within their strategic reports. Such risks may include those related to climate change. The Government has endorsed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The TCFD encourages companies to consider climate-related issues in relation to their business and recommends that climate-related financial risks are disclosed within annual reports. The Task Force has also made recommendations to promote more informed understanding of such issues and opportunities by both the producers of such disclosures and by the recipients of the reports, namely investors. Under the existing regulatory framework, the auditor must state whether the information given in the strategic report and the directors’ report is consistent with the financial statements; whether such reports have been prepared in accordance with the law; and whether, in the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, any material misstatements in the reports have been identified.

Natural Gas: Powers of Entry

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the (a) suitability of gas operators current rights of entry and (b) effectiveness of the communication of those rights to vulnerable customers.

Claire Perry: The Government reviewed regulations on Powers of Entry in 2014, including provisions within The Gas Act 1986 that allow a Gas Operator to apply for a warrant for essential safety reasons or as an action of last resort for non-payment of supply. Details of this review can be found online at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380176/44666_Un-Act_DECC_Powers_of_Entry_accessible.pdf Under these rules, with limited exceptions, a customer must receive written notice before an application is made, and a Magistrate must decide whether the operator has effectively communicated their rights to a customer, before granting a warrant. If a prepayment meter is to be installed to recover a debt, the supplier must demonstrate that it is safe, and reasonable and practicable for a domestic customer to use one and Ofgem supply licence conditions prohibit exercising a warrant to recover costs where this would be severely traumatic to that customer due to existing vulnerabilities. Ofgem monitors energy companies performance, including on installation prepayment meters under warrant, as part of their social obligations reporting. The most recent report can be found online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2018/11/vulnerability_report_2018.pdf.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2018 to Question 202300 on Global Navigation Satellite Systems: Costs, when the engineering, design, and development phase is expected to report.

Chris Skidmore: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Automation: Termination of Employment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs to be lost as a result of automation in the UK in the next five years; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Department has not made a specific forecast on the impact of automation on jobs over the next five years. As part of the ambitious Industrial Strategy, the Government recognises that demand for skills will continue to change, in part in response to automation. We have committed to improving the UK's system for training in digital skills and lifelong learning to ensure that working people have the support they need to navigate the challenge and opportunities of automation. In particular, a new system of T-level vocational training, high-quality apprenticeships and a new National Retraining Scheme are central to our approach.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Spain: British Nationals Abroad

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on UK residents being treated as non-EU citizens at Barcelona Airport.

Alistair Burt: Whilst the UK remains a member of the EU, and for the duration of the Implementation Period set out in the Withdrawal Agreement, there will be no changes to the entry requirements for British citizens entering EU member states. No incidents of British citizens being treated as non-EU citizens at Barcelona Airport have been raised with consular staff in Spain.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to ensure that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has adequate access to medical treatment.

Alistair Burt: The treatment of all British-Iranians detained in Iran, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is a priority for the Government. We urgently raise any health concerns with the Iranian authorities, and have made clear that medical treatment must be provided when it is needed. The Foreign Secretary raised this when he visited Tehran last year (19 November) and I also discussed the case with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister on 27 November 2018. Officials from the British Embassy in Tehran regularly raise this with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are seeking clarification from the Iranian authorities about how they propose to deal with any hunger-strike situation if it progresses.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria his Department uses to determine that a UK citizen has been (a) arbitrarily detained and (b) treated in violation of international law.

Harriett Baldwin: We apply internationally-accepted human rights standards to consider whether a British national has been arbitrarily detained, and work with their local lawyer when considering if a detainee is not being treated in line with these standards. This may include if there is no legal authority to arrest or detain, if a trial does not follow internationally recognised standards for a fair trial or is unreasonably delayed compared to local cases. We consider all interventions on a case by case basis.

Nigeria: Human Rights

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Guardian article entitled Nigeria concerned over Amnesty International's 'damaging' activities, published on 18 December 2018, what discussions he has had with his Nigerian counterpart on their comments on the actions of human rights organisations in Nigeria.

Harriett Baldwin: Civil Society around the world and in Nigeria plays a vital role in promoting the principles of democracy, gender equality and human rights. For democracies to thrive it is important that human rights organisations are able to act as both an enabler and challenger, holding governments to account, without fear of reprisal. In doing so they must act based on evidence and without prejudice.We regularly stress to the Nigerian authorities the importance of protecting civilians and upholding human rights. Any member of the Nigerian security forces found to have been involved in human rights abuses should be brought to justice. We welcome commitments made by President Buhari and leaders of Nigerian Security Forces that they will investigate allegations of human rights violations by the Nigerian military and take appropriate action.

Kosovo: Serbia

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of relations between Serbia and Kosovo; and what recent discussions he has held with representatives of the Governments of those states on their mutual relations.

Alistair Burt: ​We are concerned by the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia and are urging both governments to avoid escalation and re-commit themselves to the EU-facilitated Dialogue. Normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo is crucial for the security, stability and prosperity of both countries and the wider region. We support the EU-facilitated Dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo with a view to a comprehensive and sustainable solution that enjoys popular support in both countries. The Minister for Europe and the Americas set out this position in his recent meetings in Belgrade with Serbia's Prime Minister Brnabic and Foreign Minister Dacic, and with Kosovo's President Thaci during his visit to London in December last year.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Official Residences

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to recoup (a) rent, (b) service charges and (c) taxes from the unauthorised occupant of One Carlton Gardens for the period from 9 to 30 July.

Alistair Burt: ​On the occupancy of One Carlton Gardens from 9-31 July 2018 I refer the Honourable Member to the answers I gave on 24 July 2018 to Question 166108; 4 September 2018 to Question 167213; and on 10 September 2018 to Question 170256.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Bahraini counterpart on the quashing of the death sentences of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa by Bahrain’s Court of Cassation and their upcoming retrial before that country's Court of Appeal; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​The UK has raised the cases of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain. We welcome the investigation and recommendation of the Special Investigations Unit and the subsequent decision of the Minister of Justice to refer the cases of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa back to the Court of Cassation for retrial. Officials from the British Embassy regularly attend court hearings of cases of interest to the UK. We will continue to closely monitor these cases.

British Nationals Abroad: Detainees

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department takes in cases where British citizens of dual nationality are held in arbitrary detention in their country of other nationality.

Harriett Baldwin: Where a dual British national is detained in the country of their other nationality, we would not normally offer support or get involved in dealings between them and the authorities of that state. However, we may make an exception to this based on the circumstances of the case, for example where we consider the detainee to be vulnerable and we have humanitarian concerns. This could include where there are concerns that a detainee may have been arbitrarily detained, when we would work with the individual’s local lawyer, where possible, to consider interventions. The help we can provide depends on the circumstances and, for dual nationals in the country of their other nationality, the other country agreeing to it.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Bulldog Trust

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in each financial year since 2015-16.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in any financial year since 2015-16.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with representatives of the Iraqi Government on (a) rebuilding and (b) rehabilitation programmes in territory previously occupied by Daesh.

Alistair Burt: On 26 October 2018 the Prime Minister reaffirmed to Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mehdi the UK's commitment to helping build a stable and successful Iraq. On 14 November 2018, I reinforced this message to Iraqi Foreign Minister Al Hakim, and requested that the Government of Iraq proactively contribute to reconstruction and stabilisation efforts. These efforts must be Iraqi-owned and Iraqi-led, with sustained international support.Since 2015, the UK has committed over £30m to help stabilise areas liberated from Daesh, including rehabilitating critical infrastructure, delivering basic services like water and electricity, rebuilding livelihoods and supporting community reconciliation. This includes £14.45 million to the UN's Funding Facility for Stabilisation, to help the Iraqi government stabilise areas of return and re-establish security, basic services and inclusive local governance.Stabilisation is not just about restoring physical infrastructure, but also about rebuilding trust. Community reconciliation is vital if Iraq is to enjoy a stable and prosperous future. Through our Conflict, Stability and Security Fund and our diplomatic efforts, we are also supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes at both national and community levels.

Rwanda: Extradition

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Rwandan counterpart on that Government's request for the extradition of individuals residing in the UK that are accused of involvement in the Rwandan Genocide.

Harriett Baldwin: The decision on whether or not to extradite is a matter for the courts, not government. The High Court ruling not to extradite the five individuals from the UK was a final and independent decision.The Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit is assessing the alleged genocide offences following the January 2018 request from Rwandan authorities to investigate five individuals in the UK. As part of this exercise officers from the Met's War Crimes Unit visited Rwanda in late October 2018. Enquiries continue and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.The then Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, discussed the UK High Court judgement and the request for a Metropolitan Police investigation, when he met Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. British High Commission officials in Kigali continue to discuss this issue with the Government of Rwanda.

Syria: Peacekeeping Operations

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representation he has made to his counterpart in the US Administration on its decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.

Alistair Burt: ​The Foreign Secretary spoke with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on 19 December with regard to President Trump's decision, and senior officials have remained in close contact with their US counterparts over the Christmas period.

Syria: Turkey

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the potential for a new military offensive by that country in Northern Syria.

Alistair Burt: ​The Minister for Europe and the Americas has had a number of recent conversations with his Turkish counterparts over the conflict in Syria, as have his ministerial colleagues and the Prime Minister. While we recognise Turkey's security interests, we have raised our concern that new military operations in the north of Syria will negatively impact efforts to secure the enduring defeat of Daesh.

Syria: Islamic State

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of changes in the level of activity of ISIS in Syria.

Alistair Burt: ​As the Foreign Secretary made clear in his Written Ministerial Statement on 19 December, the Global Coalition against Daesh has made huge progress. Since military operations began, the Coalition and its partners in Syria and Iraq have recaptured the vast majority of Daesh territory. Important advances have been made in recent weeks in the last area of eastern Syria which Daesh has occupied.But much remains to be done in the global campaign against Daesh and we must not lose sight of the threat they pose. Even without territory, Daesh will remain a threat. We remain committed to the Global Coalition and the campaign to deny Daesh territory and ensure its enduring defeat.

Central African Republic: Politics and Government

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the political situation in the Central African Republic; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Despite political progress in recent years, difficult challenges remain for the Central African Republic (CAR). The country continues to be marked by violence and instability. CAR authorities maintain control of the capital, but lawlessness in other parts of the state has resulted in armed groups controlling over 70 per cent of the country.I met President Touadera at the UN General Assembly in September 2018. I stressed the UK’s continued commitment to working with international organisations such as the UN and EU in support of CAR’s efforts towards peace and stability.

Cabinet Office

UK Relations with EU

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions officials in his Department's Europe Unit had with representatives of EU member states and EU institutions prior to 12 July 2018 on the content of the White Paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

Mr David Lidington: In the run up to the publication of the White Paper, there was regular engagement with our EU counterparts, but no copies were shared with other Member States. Work to support this required a cross-government effort, including close collaboration the Cabinet Office Europe Unit, the Department for Exiting the European Union and other Government departments.

Cabinet Office: Government Chief Scientific Adviser

Norman Lamb: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings he had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between 1 September and 30 November 2018.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office draws from a range of scientific advice and expertise, including from the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, the Chief Scientific Advisers in individual Government Departments, and academics and researchers. The Cabinet Office does not have its own Chief Scientific Adviser.

Cabinet Office: EU Law

Mary Creagh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many in-flight files of EU legislation exist that effect the policy areas managed by his Department; and which in-flight files of EU legislation his Department intends to implement in UK law.

Mr David Lidington: During the time-limited implementation period, EU law will continue to apply in the UK subject to the terms set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. After the implementation period, all laws in the UK will be passed by our elected representatives in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The Political Declaration recognises that the UK may choose to align with the EU's rules in relevant areas to facilitate trade in goods or security cooperation.The Official Journal of the European Union publishes upcoming EU legislation for implementation.

Government Departments: EU Nationals

Alison McGovern: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse would be of not charging for applications for Settled Status from non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the Government.

Oliver Dowden: The number of non-UK EU citizens employed across the Civil Service is not consistently collected across government, therefore it is not possible to estimate the cost of not charging for settled status for non-UK EU nationals employed directly by the Government.The UK Government currently does not plan to pay the Settled Status for its non-UK EU citizen employees. The fee is set at an affordable rate (£65), less than the cost of an UK passport.We are committed to supporting our EU citizen employees across the Civil Service, the important engagement with EU national networks across government will continue over the coming months.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 196203 and with reference to the Government's Technology Code of Practice principles Cloud First policy, whether it is Government policy to prevent any government department or service from storing cloud-based data hosted in any specific nation states.

Mr David Lidington: Neither the Technology Code of Practice nor the Cloud First Policy directly prevent government departments or services from storing cloud based data in any specific nation state. It is the responsibility of each government department to take risk-based decisions about their use of cloud providers for the storage of government data.

Civil Service: Complaints

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the complaints procedure is for members of the public who have a complaint that a civil servant is in breach of the Civil Service Code; what the timeline is for the relevant Department to provide a substantive response to such a complaint; what process applies if the complaint relates to a civil servant's work at a Department other than the Department in which they are employed; whether that procedure differs for complaints against (a) former and retired civil servants and (b) permanent secretaries or other heads of Departments; how many complaints about breaches of the Civil Service Code by civil servants have been recorded by his Department in each of the last six years; and what the outcomes of those complaints were.

Mr David Lidington: The Civil Service is committed to providing a high quality service to everyone it deals with and all complaints are treated seriously. All civil servants are required to adhere to Civil Service Code values - integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. If a member of the public wishes to complain about a civil servant, they should in the first instance contact the Department or Agency where the civil servant is employed. Each Department or Agency has its own complaints procedure that can be found on GOV.UK.

Cabinet Office: Overseas Aid

Mr Bob Seely: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department has allocated to programmes overseas that is not part of Official Development Assistance in each of the last three years; and how much such funding his Department plans to allocate in each of the next two years.

Mr David Lidington: Cabinet Office has a number of Business Units which have involvement with overseas programmes. However, the data is not held centrally and it would therefore be a disproportionate cost to collect the data.

David Cameron

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have (i) met or (ii) held discussions with former Prime Minister David Cameron in the last two months on the UK leaving the EU.

Mr David Lidington: Details of external meetings by Ministers and Permanent Secretaries are published quarterly and are available on gov.uk. In respect of other officials, the Cabinet Office has no record of formal meetings in the last two months with the former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon David Cameron, on the UK leaving the EU.

Overseas Trade: Commonwealth

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the merits of targets for increased procurement from Commonwealth nations after the UK has left the EU.

Oliver Dowden: We are working with countries across the world to ensure the UK remains a global leader in free trade as we leave the EU. This year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London saw leaders adopt a six-point Connectivity Agenda for Trade and Investment to boost intra-Commonwealth trade to $2 Trillion by 2030. We are also currently working towards developing our overall approach to potential future trade negotiations, including with respect to government procurement, and our public consultations continue to will help to inform this.Government is required to award contracts through fair and open competition in line with international obligations, which ensures value for money for the taxpayer. We will use opportunities offered by our exit from the EU to carefully consider longer-term options for the UK’s public procurement rules.

Public Bodies: Cybercrime

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2018 to Question 201213 on Cybercrime, if he will publish an exhaustive list of the activities that are supported through the National Cyber Security Programme to specifically support (a) Government Departments and (b) other public bodies to build cyber security capability.

Mr David Lidington: More detail on the totality of the Government’s approach to build cyber security capability across the UK will be published in the forthcoming National Cyber Security Skills Strategy.

Infrastructure: Cybercrime

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is Government policy to prevent an organisation's involvement in UK Critical National Infrastructure unless the Government receives a guarentee of that organisation's reliability and security.

Mr David Lidington: Critical national infrastructure owners and operators are subject to a range of mandatory minimum reliability and security conditions. These are set out in sectoral and cross-cutting regulation and requirements across Government, and are enforced by regulatory bodies.

Civil Servants: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of civil service staff that have been paid an annual salary of (a) less than and (b) more than £30,000 in each year since 2010.

Mr David Lidington: The numbers of Civil Servants for each year from 2010-2018 earning below £30,000; and above £30,000 are:Year Below 30K Above 30K2010 403,700 117,850 2011 367,620 125,250 2012 339,370 118,090 2013 322,560 120,810 2014 304,280 129,210 2015 297,600 135,400 2016 277,710 139,910 2017 276,300 142,570 2018 273,380 154,890Data on salary is missing for a small number of Civil Servants, who are not counted in these figures.

Public Sector: Procurement

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to (a) diversify public sector supply chains and (b) ensure greater account is given to social value in those supply chains.

Oliver Dowden: In most of the markets from which the Government buys, there is plenty of competition. Where consolidation has reduced competition we take steps to encourage more.There are now more small suppliers than ever looking to bid for Government business. As of end of November 2018, there were 44,963 registered individual users on Contracts Finder from 30,161 organisations. 20,397 of these (c. 67.6%) are SMEs. Additionally, we now encourage prime contractors to advertise subcontracting opportunities on Contracts Finder to diversify the supply chain further.

Institute of Economic Affairs

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists plans to publish all documents relating to its concluded investigation into the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Chloe Smith: The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists operates independently of Government. It is for the Registrar to determine whether to publish information obtained as part of investigations to determine whether the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 has been breached.

Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether staff at the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists are instructed to cross-reference information from published ministerial meetings data with that provided by companies on the register in their returns.

Chloe Smith: The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 requires the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists to maintain and update the register of which requires consultant lobbyists to declare on whose behalf they are lobbying.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2018 to Question 202801, for what reason no reference was made in that Answer to the number of Government Departments which use (a) a system for identifying external emails to recipients and (b) a protocol for timely staff reporting of suspicious emails.

Mr David Lidington: Cabinet Office does not hold this information centrally. It is the responsibility of each government department to manage how they receive external emails and report suspicious emails based on their security requirements. Domain-based Message Authentication Protocol (DMARC) is the system in which Departments identify external email.The NCSC provides guidance and support to government departments on how to implement good cyber hygiene for staff, including the reporting of suspicious emails of which Cabinet Office have no central record of these figures.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS England: Staff

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which criteria his Department has instructed NHS England to use in workforce planning to support the long-term plan for the NHS in England.

Stephen Hammond: In developing the Long Term Plan, the Government has set out six principles which must underpin the plan in order to meet the high expectations people have for the National Health Service now and in the future. One of these principles is that the plan must ensure that the NHS is building the workforce we need for the future, so we have the right numbers and right types of doctors, nurses and other expert professionals with more of them trained here in the United Kingdom.

Department of Health and Social Care: Public Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department’s TDEL budget would need to increase by in each year from 2019-20 to 2023-24 to achieve a 3.6% increase in spending in each year.

Stephen Hammond: The following table sets out by how much the Department’s Total Department Expenditure Limit budget, which includes expenditure outside the National Health Service mandate, would need to increase to achieve an annual 3.6% real terms increase in spending to 2023-24.  Annual increase £ billion2019-207.002020-217.592021-228.002022-238.472023-248.88

NHS: Christmas

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS will implement before Christmas 2018 contingency plans covering the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: On 18 December 2018, the Cabinet agreed to proceed with the Government’s next phase of ‘no deal’ planning. With just over three months until our exit from the European Union, we have now reached the point where we need to accelerate and intensify these preparations. It has always been the case that as we get nearer to March 2019, preparations for a no deal scenario would have to be accelerated. Preparing for ‘no deal’ is now an operational priority for the Government. This means we will set in motion our remaining ‘no deal’ plans. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care wrote to frontline health and care organisations on 7 December 2018 to update them on the Government’s preparations for a potential ‘no deal’ Brexit and what the health and care system needs to consider in the period leading up to March 2019. On 21 December 2018, the Department published ‘EU Exit operational readiness guidance’, developed and agreed with NHS England and NHS Improvement. This guidance lists the actions that providers and commissioners of health and care services in England should take if the United Kingdom leaves the EU without a ratified deal – a ‘no deal’ exit. This will ensure organisations are prepared for, and can manage, the risks in such a scenario. This guidance was sent to all frontline health and care organisations to ensure the health and care system as a whole is prepared.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of Public Health England's Screening Quality Assurance support visit report: NHS Breast Screening Programme, Central and East London Breast Screening Service, dated 20 June 2018.

Steve Brine: The London Quality Assurance team made recommendations to the breast screening service provider (Royal Free Hospital) following an informal supportive quality assurance visit on 20 June 2018 to the Central and East London Breast Screening Service. It was agreed that the report from this visit would not be publicly available. NHS England commissioners are expected to performance manage the provider Royal Free Hospital, ensuring that the recommendations made at the visit are incorporated into their recovery action plan.

Drugs: Refrigerators

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his comments on the BBC's Newsnight on 17 December 2018 on buying refrigerators in which to store stockpiled medicines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, where those refrigerators are located.

Stephen Hammond: In October, as part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning, a tender process to secure the provision of additional warehouse space for stockpiled medicines covering ambient, cold chain and controlled drug storage was undertaken. Contract agreements for the procurement of storage, including refrigerated storage have recently been signed. These contracts cover additional storage capacity at various locations in the United Kingdom.

NHS: Loans

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2018 to Question 197464 on NHS: Loans, what estimate his Department has made of the levels of (a) repayment and (b) associated interest payments for his Department's loans to each individual NHS Trust and Foundation Trust in Greater London in each financial year since 2010-2011.

Stephen Hammond: The amount of principal loan repayments and interest paid in Greater London by each individual National Health Service trust and foundation trust in each year since 2010/11 are set out in the attached tables. All loan principal repayments from revolving loan facilities have been excluded here because repayments may have been funded by prior draws made against the facility. The Department publishes data annually on all financial assistance, including new loans issued, repaid and outstanding balances. This report accompanies the Department’s Annual Report and the 2017-18 version can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018



PQ203372 attached table
(Word Document, 32.25 KB)

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will implement a catch-up programme of HPV vaccination for adolescent boys aged 14 to 18 to ensure that group is effectively protected.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Sharon Hodgson) on 13 December 2018 to Question 199808.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with (a) NHS England and (b) Public Health England on implementation of the recommendations of the independent review of the breast screening programme, published on 13 December.

Steve Brine: The Department, along with Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England, is reviewing the recommendations of the recent Independent review of Breast Screening and will be publishing a full response on behalf of the Government shortly. The Government will ensure that steps are taken to implement a system that ensures a uniform national approach to the interpretation and implementation of breast screening policy, once that policy has been agreed. The Department, PHE and NHS England will continue to work together to ensure the safe delivery of the breast screening programme through agreed responsibilities and governance mechanisms.

Prescriptions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department is providing to patients who will require repeat prescriptions after 29 March 2019.

Stephen Hammond: On 21 December the Department published operational readiness guidance for the health and care system. The guidance makes it clear that the Government is working with industry to ensure a continued supply of medicines from the moment the United Kingdom leaves the European Union and therefore, community pharmacies and the National Health Service should not stockpile additional medicines and patients should not store additional medicines at home. Patients should continue to request their repeat prescriptions in the usual way.

Drugs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many days’ worth and what value of drugs which cannot be refrigerated his Department (a) has already stockpiled and (b) is planning to stockpile in preparation the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of stockpiling medicines that cannot be refrigerated for the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal (a) to date, (b) until 29 March 2019 and (c) after 29 March 2019.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the length of time the fridges for stockpiling drugs in preparation for the UK leaving the EU without a deal will need to be procured for; and whether the invitation to tender for those fridges specified the minimum time the refrigeration will be required for.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the drugs his Department is stockpiling for the UK leaving the EU; and how much his Department has spent to date on stockpiling those drugs.

Stephen Hammond: On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription only medicines and pharmacy medicines to the UK that come from, or via, the European Union or European Economic Area asking them to ensure a minimum of 42 days additional supply in the United Kingdom, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. The Department does not hold information about the value of the medicines that will be stockpiled in either refrigerated or non-refrigerated storage. The medicines will remain the property of the suppliers who would hold that information. Since then we have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. In the light of this engagement the Department is currently considering how best it may support industry taking part in the contingency planning. In October, a tender process to secure the provision of additional warehouse space for stockpiled medicines covering ambient, cold chain and controlled drug storage was undertaken. Contract agreements for the procurement of storage, including refrigerated storage have recently been signed. The sum total cost of additional warehouse is expected to cost the Government in the low tens of millions of pounds. We have agreed funding on the condition that the additional medicine warehousing capacity is in place in time to accommodate stockpiled medicines by the beginning of February 2019. The storage space needs to be available for 12 months to allow for stock build and stock wind down. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s programme. That means not introducing information about a company or a specific medicine into the public domain.

Mental Health Services: Ethnic Groups

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' statement on racism and mental health, published in March 2018 recommending the appointment of a new equalities champion to drive cross-Government action on race equality in the NHS.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to addressing inequalities across mental health. Plans to appoint a mental health equalities champion will be announced in due course.

NHS: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people that work in the NHS that have been paid an annual salary of (a) less than and (b) more than £30,000 in each year since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. The following table shows the number of staff whose total earnings are under, equal to and over £30,000 in National Health Service trusts, CCGs, support organisations and central bodies in England, between October and September each year from 2009 to 2018, headcount. PeriodAll staffStaff whose total annual earnings are under £30,000Staff whose total annual earnings are exactly £30,000Staff whose total annual earnings are over £30,0002009 to 2010944,710613,2254331,4812010 to 2011956,438609,5274346,9072011 to 2012939,730581,4548358,2682012 to 2013926,392572,2966354,0902013 to 2014941,783578,39211363,3802014 to 2015943,646574,1459369,4922015 to 2016957,282579,4753377,8042016 to 2017973,261586,4301386,8302017 to 2018995,772584,0893411,680Source: NHS Digital, NHS HCHS workforce statistics These figures use the total annual earnings of staff which includes basic pay and non-basic pay elements. Non-basic pay includes, where applicable, unsocial hours payments, on call payments and high cost area supplements. These total figures also include staff working on a part time basis, who tend to have lower annual earnings than those on full time contracts. The following table shows the number of staff by full time and part time working patterns in NHS trusts, CCGs, support organisations and central bodies in England, as at 30 September each year, 2010 to 2018, headcount: YearFull timePart timeSeptember 2010761,730426,309September 2011743,223419,673September 2012730,390407,651September 2013740,412409,105September 2014757,836411,623September 2015771,785415,480September 2016787,949424,227September 2017799,144433,264September 2018813,873443,501 Around a third of HCHS staff work part time and part time workers are likely to be more highly represented among those who earn less than £30,000.

NHS and Social Services: Migrant Workers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's Immigration White Paper on the level of staffing for (a) clinical roles in the NHS, (b) non-clinical roles in the NHS and (c) the social care sector.

Stephen Hammond: The White Paper sets out a new immigration system that will work in the interests of the United Kingdom. The future system will focus on high skills, welcoming talented and hardworking individuals that will support the UK’s dynamic economy, brilliant National Health Service and indispensable social care services. For skilled migrants there will be no cap on numbers. This will mean that all skilled roles – whether clinical or non-clinical – will benefit from the certainty that already exists for doctors and nurses, will give the NHS and social care providers the confidence that they will be able to bring in any suitably skilled migrant and enable the Government to process cases immediately. We will also abolish the Resident Labour Market Test for skilled workers – this will remove a month from the process of recruiting from overseas. We will also introduce a time limited route for temporary short-term workers of all skill levels. It is likely, however, that there could be some decrease in the flow of so called lower skilled workers from abroad. We know we need to redouble our efforts to promote jobs in the NHS and social care to the domestic workforce and we have has made improving the working lives of the millions of people who work in health and social care one of our top priorities, and why we have launched recruitment campaigns for both the NHS and social care. We are also clear that we want the 167,000 European Union nationals who currently work in the health and social care sectors to stay in the UK after we leave the EU, and in December 2018 they were able to apply for settled status early as part of the testing phase of the wider scheme. We continue to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the NHS and adult social care, including the impact of the proposed future immigration system.

Social Services

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the social care green paper.

Caroline Dinenage: As an ageing society, we need to reach a longer-term sustainable settlement for social care. Given wider events, and because we recognise that parliamentary colleagues will wish to engage thoroughly in the debate following publication, it was not possible to publish the Adult Social Care Green Paper by the end of 2018. The Government is committed to publishing it at the earliest opportunity this year.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England plans to review and update the National Genomic Test Directory to reflect the NICE guidance published December 2018 on tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer.

Caroline Dinenage: The final version of the 2018/19 National Genomic Test Directory for cancer will be published in January 2019 and will reflect NHS England's consideration of the updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the use of tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer, which was published on Wednesday 19 December 2018.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NICE guidance, Tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer, published in December 2018, what NHS England’s position is on that guidance.

Steve Brine: NHS England is supportive of the updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance and is actively considering making available both of the two new tests that it recommends, alongside Oncotype Dx which is already available to patients.

Rare Diseases: Drugs

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2018 to Question 201214 on Rare Diseases: Drugs, on how many occasions NICE has made a conditional recommendation for a rare disease treatment that do not qualify for conditional recommendation through the cancer drugs fund; and what criteria NICE uses to determine whether such treatments are eligible for conditional recommendations.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is able to take into account the commercial terms offered by a manufacturer during a NICE appraisal through a mechanism known as a commercial access agreement. On two occasions NICE has issued optimised recommendations to make rare disease medicines routinely available for the appropriate group of National Health Service patients that are conditional on it being supplied in accordance with the terms of the commercial access arrangements. These were Sorafenib, for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, and ibrutinib for relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. This is different from the process of a conditional recommendation for use within the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) for oncology drugs, where there is significant remaining clinical uncertainty which needs more investigation through data collection. In these cases funding is provided from the CDF for a time-limited period to allow patient access whilst this data is collected, before guidance is then reviewed again for routine commissioning. NICE does not have any particular criteria to determine whether treatments are eligible for conditional recommendations. However, the process guide for patient access schemes and commercial access agreements and the CDF can be found at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/process/pmg19/chapter/patient-access-schemes-commercial-access-agreements-and-flexible-pricing

Arthritis: Mental Health

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations made by National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society in their report entitled Emotional Health and Well-being Matters.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The recommendations made in the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society’s report, Emotional Health and Well-being Matters, are aimed at a number of different bodies and Government to improve the monitoring and measuring of mental health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis and to improve access to services. The Government recognises that long-term conditions, such as arthritis, can have an impact on a person’s mental wellbeing. The guideline Rheumatoid arthritis in adults: management, updated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2018, sets out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with rheumatoid arthritis. The guidance recommends that patients should be offered psychological interventions, for example, relaxation, stress management and cognitive coping skills to help them to adjust to living with their condition. We expect National Health Service organisations and clinicians to take NICE guidelines into account fully as best practice, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100 As set out in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, the expansion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services now under way has a focus on helping people with long-term conditions, including conditions such as arthritis.

Schools: Mental Health

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce the first set of trailblazers for mental health in schools; and whether the associated training in relation to those trailblazers will be delivered in January 2019.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We announced the first wave of 25 trailblazer sites on 20 December. The trailblazer sites will test out the plans previously announced in ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’, published in December 2017, creating new mental health support teams working in and near schools and colleges to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions; piloting a four week waiting time for access to specialist National Health Service children’s mental health services; and training Designated Senior Leads in mental health in schools and colleges. There will be 59 mental health support teams across the first wave of 25 sites, covering a population of around 470,000 children and young people. The first cohort of new staff for the Support Teams, the Education Mental Health Practitioners, start training in January 2019.

Hospitals: Admissions

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 6 December 2018 to Question 117811 and the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 198230 on Hospitals: Admissions  for what reason the data is no longer held in the format requested.

Caroline Dinenage: As stated in the answer to Question 117811, there is no source of admissions code available that specifically identifies admissions from a nursing home setting. Patients living in nursing homes or residential care may have their source of admission recorded as 'usual place of residence' by the provider. However, it is not possible to identify how many care or nursing home residents are included within this category.

Mental Health Services: Schools

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to put NHS-funded counsellors in every school to ensure easy access to mental health services for children.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Whilst the National Health Service does not plan to fund counsellors in every school, the joint Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Education Green Paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’, set out our plans to improve access to mental health services for children. The Government plans have three key components: creating new mental health support teams working in and near schools and colleges to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions; piloting a four week waiting time for access to specialist NHS children’s mental health services; and training Designated Senior Leads in mental health in schools and colleges.

Veterans: Mental Health

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of an independent inquiry on the treatment of ex-service personnel with mental health issues.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are no current plans for such an inquiry. The Government and the National Health Service are taking forward a number of initiatives to support ex-service personnel with mental health issues. NHS England commissions two bespoke services for ex-service personnel. The first is the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service, which supports serving personnel who need additional support as they are leaving the armed forces and veterans who have mental health issues. The second is the NHS Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service, which is a community-based service providing a range of more intensive care and treatment for ex-service personnel with military attributable complex mental health problems that have not improved with earlier care and treatment.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Independent Breast Screening Review report, published on gov.uk on 13 December 2018, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Public Health England and (b) NHS England on communicating the findings that report to women who were informed they may have been affected by a screening invitation error.

Steve Brine: The Department is discussing with Public Health England and NHS England about communicating the implications of the report from the Independent Review of Breast Screening Incident and will be providing a formal response from the Government to the review in early 2019.

Nabiximols

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness of Sativex as a treatment for and (b) adequacy of access to Savitex on the NHS by patients with aggressively advancing relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) considered the clinical and cost effectiveness of Sativex in the development of its clinical guideline on the management of multiple sclerosis published in 2014. NICE was not able to recommend Sativex as a cost effective use of National Health Service resources for the treatment of spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis. Sativex is not therefore likely to be routinely funded by the NHS for use in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, although clinicians are able to make a request for exceptional funding for individual patients who they think may benefit from treatment.

Drugs: Refrigerators

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number and (b) cost of refrigerators bought for the preservation of medicines as part of contingency planning in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: As part of the Department’s ‘no deal’ European Union exit contingency planning a tender process to procure additional warehouse space for stockpiled medicines, including ambient, refrigerated and controlled drug storage, was undertaken in October 2018. Contract agreements for storage, including refrigerated storage for around 5,000 pallets of medicines, have recently been signed. The refrigerated storage will cost circa £1 million.

Blood: Contamination

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant the Answer of 26 November 2018 to Question 194124 on Blood: Contamination, what plans he has to increase the level of financial support provide to people affected by infected blood and blood products; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The England Infected Blood Support Scheme (EIBSS), administered by NHS Business Services Authority, was launched on 1 November 2017 following two public consultations in 2016 and 2017. These consultations sought views on the proposed reforms to the EIBSS and the new special appeals mechanisms for those with chronic hepatitis C infection. Over the period of the current spending review, the launch of the EIBSS was part of the Government’s commitment, in January 2016, to provide an extra £125 million to support people affected by infected blood and blood products. The Infected Blood Inquiry, announced in July 2017, has included examination of the support provided to people affected by infected blood in its terms of reference. The Department continues to follow the Inquiry closely and will careful consider any views from the Inquiry on where further improvements to the EIBSS could be made.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what advice his predecessor made the decision to announce a serious incident in the NHS Breast Screening Programme when full information about the incident was not yet available.

Steve Brine: Based on the available clinical evidence and given the complexity of the case and the potential harm to the public, a judgement was made to announce a serious incident in the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme before all relevant factors had been comprehensively and exhaustively investigated. The Independent Breast Screening review has concluded that it was the right decision to update Parliament and to inform the women potentially affected, based on the information available at the time. Throughout the incident, the protection of the public’s health has been, and remains, the Government’s top priority and we have asked Public Health England, with NHS, to progress the clinical review of all women who may have suffered harm as quickly and as sensitively as possible. The review’s report and its recommendations will be considered in detail over the coming weeks and we will be publishing a full response on behalf of the Government in the new year.

Independent Breast Screening Review

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether organisations such as charities and the Advisory Committee for Breast Cancer Screening will have an opportunity to respond officially to the independent review of the breast screening incident.

Steve Brine: Charities and other organisations with an interest in this area were briefed on the Independent Breast Screening Review and its recommendations when it was published on 13 December, and will come to their own decisions about how they wish to respond to the Review. The Department will consider the report of the Independent Breast Screening Review and its recommendations in detail and will be publishing a full response on behalf of the Government shortly.

Infant Mortality

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase support for families who have suffered baby loss.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is working to improve the care and support received by families who experience baby loss. The Department has provided funding to Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care provided by the National Health Service. The NBCP helps professionals to support families in their bereavement after any pregnancy or baby loss, be that miscarriage (including ectopic and molar pregnancy), termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly, stillbirth, neonatal death or sudden unexpected death in infancy. In October 2018, all of the NBCP guidance materials and tools were published online. In addition, NHS England’s Perinatal Mental Health Team has been working with Sands to ensure that the NBCP guidelines effectively signpost universal mental health screening and referral to evidence-based interventions and support. Furthermore, the Pregnancy Loss Review which the Department commissioned earlier this year, has been considering the question of whether legislation should provide new rights to bereaved parents to register pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation, as well as investigating the impact of such losses on families and how care can be improved for parents who experience this. The review has been widely consulting with parents, charities and medical professionals and is currently scheduled to be completed in early 2019.

Mental Health Services: Older People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Royal College of Psychiatrists report Suffering in Silence: age inequality in older people’s mental health care which concluded that older adults are the least likely group to seek treatment for mental health care despite being the group who achieve the highest recovery rates in services provided under the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises the findings in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ report that older people are less likely to seek mental health treatment and are therefore under-represented in mental health services and do not access them as readily as people who are under 65 years of age. As part of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), NHS England introduced financial incentives through the Mental Health Premium in 2017-18 and 2018-19, to ensure clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) improve access and outcomes for under-represented groups, particularly older people. The Mental Health Premium Guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/annx-b-quality-premium-april-18.pdf Also in June 2018, NHS England, with support from the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, published its Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Manual, which includes a section dedicated to improving and adapting IAPT services for older people. This manual aims to help commissioners, managers and clinicians improve and expand their local IAPT services. The manual is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-iapt-manual.pdf Since April 2018 all CCGs have been expected to expand IAPT by commissioning services that are integrated into physical healthcare pathways. These services are designed to support people with combined physical health long term conditions (LTCs) and depression and anxiety disorders. We anticipate this expansion will further increase access for older people, who are more likely than working age people to live with one or more LTCs.

NHS

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200657, how specifically the EU Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration lay the foundation for a strong NHS.

Stephen Hammond: The Government has agreed the terms of our exit from the European Union, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement allows us to deliver on the result of the referendum, and means that we will leave the EU in a smooth and orderly way on 29 March 2019. Securing a deal is in the best interests of patients, the National Health Service, and businesses. The deal we have agreed would allow us to focus on significant domestic priorities, such as our long-term plan for the NHS.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the December 2017 Green Paper entitled Transforming the Mental Health of Children and Young People, what progress has been made on implementing the four-week waiting time target.

Jackie Doyle-Price: On 20 December we announced the first wave of 25 trailblazer sites that will test the plans set out in the Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health which have three key components: creating new mental health support teams working in and near schools and colleges to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions; piloting a four week waiting time for access to specialist NHS children’s mental health services; and training Designated Senior Leads in mental health in schools and colleges. Twelve of the 25 areas have been chosen to pilot a four-week waiting time. The 12 clinical commissioning group pilot areas are Bromley, Buckinghamshire, Camden, Doncaster and Rotherham, Gloucestershire, Haringey, Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, South Warwickshire, Stoke on Trent and Tower Hamlets.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  with reference to the December 2017 Green Paper entitled Transforming the Mental Health of Children and Young People, whether the four-week waiting time target refers to a waiting time from referral to (a) assessment or (b) treatment.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The four week waiting time to be piloted for children’s and young people’s mental health services is from referral to treatment, rather than assessment.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the (a) support and (b) treatment for people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Care Quality Commission has a statutory duty to monitor how mental health providers exercise powers and discharge their duties when people are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. It reports annually, and its most recent report Monitoring the Mental Health Act in 2016/17 was published in February 2018. The report contains a specific chapter on care, support and treatment in hospital. It is available at the following link: www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20180227_mhareport_web.pdf The Government has committed to reform mental health legislation. As a first step towards this, the Prime Minister asked Professor Sir Simon Wessely to chair a full and independent review of the Mental Health Act 1983. Modernising the Mental Health Act Increasing choice, reducing compulsion, the final report of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, was published in December. The Government will consider the report and its recommendations in detail, and will respond in due course.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) investigate claims about patient safety in the Eye Department of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS); (b) protect patients treated in that Department from harm; (c) assure whistle-blowers that they will not suffer reprisals for speaking out; (d) inquire into above average sight loss amongst patients operated on by a particular surgeon in the Department; (e) investigate the alleged use of NHS lists by the same individual for use by a private practice; (f) establish why external experts were not invited to inspect the clinical records of patients who had lost their sight; (g) protect patients from further risk by conducting an independent inquiry; (h) draw lessons for the future from this situation and the treatment by UHS of a senior consultant who attempted to blow the whistle three years ago; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: As the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England the Care Quality Commission (CQC) make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve. The CQC is regularly meeting with Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, including holding regular monthly detailed updates and a quarterly engagement meeting. The CQC are also in regular contact with Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) at the Wessex Quality Surveillance Group, who have been looking into the trust performance and raised the matter of issues with ophthalmology at the trust. Speaking up and raising concerns should be routine in the National Health Service and is a key part of ensuring patient safety and improving the quality of services. The Government is clear no one should suffer detriment from speaking up in the NHS. The CQC are assured that the Trust has: demonstrated their awareness and application of protected disclosure in relation to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and updated their whistleblowing policy. The CQC will follow up the Trust’s management of whistleblowers at the planned ‘well-led’ inspection of the Trust in January 2019. The CQC met with a whistleblower who raised concerns about patient safety in the Southampton eye unit in early 2017. The CQC closed the whistleblowing inquiry following investigation by the Trust. The Trust and key stakeholders have informed the CQC of concerns regarding patient waiting times for ophthalmology, including incidences where harm has happened to patients as a result. The CQC are unable to currently make an assessment regarding the levels of sight loss, however the Trust have told the CQC that they have reviewed how harm is assessed. The CQC is monitoring the concerns regarding the ophthalmology department. During an ophthalmology consultants meeting in August 2016, the CQC highlighted that individuals at the Trust should not conduct private work on NHS lists or when on call, and that private lists should be clearly distinguished from NHS operations. The CQC are aware of two ‘never events’ within ophthalmology in 2017 and July 2018. It was, however, concluded patients did not sustain harm to the incorrect eye. A serious incident also occurred on 7 December 2018, which the CQC understands the Trust plans to investigate. The CQC have requested a copy of the full investigation following the ‘serious incident’ on 7 December 2018, and depending on the outcome, they may take regulatory action.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the accounting officer for his Department has sought a written ministerial direction for expenditure on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The Accounting Officer for the Department has not sought a written ministerial direction for expenditure on contingency planning for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Written Questions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department uses an internal system to classify written parliamentary questions according to their political sensitivity.

Alun Cairns: No.

Migrant Workers: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, with reference to the White Paper, The UK’s future skills-based immigration system, published on 19 December 2018, what discussions his Department has had with the Home Secretary on the effect of the proposed minimum salary requirement of £30,000 for skilled migrants on the Welsh economy.

Alun Cairns: The independent Migration Advisory Committee recommended retaining the existing £30,000 salary threshold for skilled workers. The Government agrees with the Migration Advisory Committee’s view that the salary thresholds should ensure that migrants are raising the level of productivity in the UK, making a positive contribution to public finances and are not putting downward pressure on earnings. This salary threshold is an important control to ensure migration is managed at sustainable levels. However, before confirming the level of a future salary threshold the Government will engage extensively with businesses and employers, consider wider evidence of the impact on the economy, and take into account current pay levels in the UK economy. The Government currently maintains a Shortage Occupation List which is used to give priority to individuals within the highly-skilled route cap, and to exempt migrants from minimum salary thresholds required for settlement if they are in a shortage occupation. The Home Secretary has asked the Migration Advisory Committee to review the current Shortage Occupation List. The Migration Advisory Committee will be commissioned to provide an annual report on key aspects of the UK’s immigration system, including to advise on whether detailed arrangements such as the levels of salary thresholds, and the Shortage Occupation List, need to be revised in light of economic and social circumstances, and any emerging or longer-term trends that may impact the labour market. The Government will also invite the Migration Advisory Committee to examine the case for a Wales specific Shortage Occupation List.

Wales Office: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding it requires to plan for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will place any documentation on such estimates in the Library.

Nigel Adams: Work to prepare for a successful EU exit is a key priority for the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales. The work is funded from the Office’s £4.6 million budget for 2018-19. In addition, the Office was allocated £0.3 million in EU exit funding for this financial year.

Department for Education

Primary Education: Numeracy

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether secondary legislation will be required to implement the Key Stage 2 Multiplication tables check assessment framework.

Nick Gibb: To help ensure that children can recall their times tables fluently by the time they leave primary school, a new national multiplication tables check will be introduced from the 2019/20 academic year onwards. This check will be delivered via a short, onscreen assessment and will be administered by schools to pupils at the end of year 4. In order to implement the check, the Department is proposing to amend the Education (National Curriculum) (key stage 2 assessment arrangements) Order 2003. The Department will also consider making further consequential amendments to related statutory instruments before the check is first administered on a statutory basis in the summer of 2020.

Schools: Standards

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools are currently rated as (a) requires improvement and (b) inadequate in each region of England, and how many children are educated in each of those schools.

Nick Gibb: As of 31 August 2018, there were 2,370 schools rated as ‘requiring improvement’. This is 11% of schools in England and accounts for 12% of all children (977,927 pupils) in schools in England. In addition, the data shows a further 783 schools were rated as ‘inadequate’, which is 4% of all schools. These schools were responsible for 4% of children (295,726 pupils).



203347_data_table_schools_require_improvement
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Pupils: Mental Illness

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data the Government holds on the number of children affected by school phobia and refusal annually.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.

Pupils: Mental Illness

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support children who are affected by school phobia and refusal.

Nick Gibb: Where a school identifies that a pupil faces an issue which is affecting their ability to take part in lessons, they should work with parents or carers to identify what action to take appropriate to their individual circumstances, following the statutory guidance set out in the ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0-25 years’ document. This can be accessed on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25. Where a school feels that a child might have a social anxiety disorder or ‘school phobia’, they might need to seek support from a mental health specialist. The Government has taken a number of steps to improve provision of specialist children and young people’s mental health services. An additional £1.4 billion is being made available to the NHS between 2015 and 2020 to fund increased access. In addition to this, the proposals set out in the transforming children and young people’s mental health provision green paper will establish new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges This includes supporting all schools and colleges to identify and train a designated senior lead for mental health to oversee the approach to mental health and wellbeing. The first areas that will test the new teams were announced on 20 December 2018 and the longer term aim is to provide teams to support all schools and colleges in England.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria was used to set £6,000 as the amount that a school needs to spend on a child with special educational needs; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: The figure of £6,000 was determined on the basis of research undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of a school funding review in 2009. Evidence showed that the cost point above which children with special educational needs (SEN) became fewer in number and it would be appropriate to describe them as having high needs was around £6,000.In order to better understand the financial incentives that influence how schools, colleges and councils support children and young people with SEN, the Department for Education will be gathering more evidence early in 2019. This will include looking at the first £6,000 schools pay for special educational provision before accessing additional funding from local high needs budgets.We will also provide additional high needs funding allocations, for all local authorities, totalling £250 million over 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020. This brings the total allocated for high needs this year to £6.1 billion and £6.3 billion in 2019 to 2020.

Students: Loans

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that the level of funding allocated to universities is not reduced as a result of the ONS decision on the treatment of student loans in Government accounts.

Chris Skidmore: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a new treatment of student loans in the public sector finances and national accounts on 17 December 2018. The decision by the ONS relates to the recording of student loans in the national accounts and public sector finances. Prior to the announcement of the ONS review, the government had already launched the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding in which, amongst other features of the system, funding is being considered. The review is considering how to ensure that the education system for those aged 18 years and over is accessible to all, is supported by a funding system that provides value for money and works for students and taxpayers. In addition, the review is considering how the education system incentivises choice and competition across the sector and encourages the development of the skills that we need as a country.

Social Services: Children

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to increase funding allocated to children's services in local authorities in England in the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government will undertake the next Spending Review in 2019. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer have agreed that all long-term spending decisions are for the Spending Review, when the government will set out its approach for the future.

Pupils: Nationality

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether families may withdraw consent for use of a child’s nationality data collected by schools between 2016 and 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department collected data on the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data was collected for the purposes of educational research to help us to understand the impact of migration on the school system. Understanding trends in migration, and the associated needs in the school system, helps us ensure that all children, wherever they are from, have the best possible education.The requirement for parents / guardians to provide information on their children’s nationality and country of birth was optional and the school census guidance expected schools to ensure that they were made aware of their right to decline to provide this data. Guidance also advised schools to inform parents that if they wished to retract any nationality or country of birth information returned in a previous census, they should inform their school of this decision. This would then be transferred to the Department and the Department would remove from the systems any information previously returned. As this data is no longer collected, the last opportunity for parents to retract this information was via the last collection in summer 2018.

Children: Day Care

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 3 and 4 year old children are eligible for the Government's offer of 30 hours free childcare a week in each (a) region and (b) local authority in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government set out in the 2015 Spending Review that we expect 390,000 three and four-year-old children to be eligible for 30 hours free childcare in the first year. This figure was a January snapshot and therefore an average across the year. Furthermore, the figure will change slightly year on year depending on the birth cohort and parental employment levels.We do not have a robust estimate of eligibility at a regional and local authority level. Local authorities have a statutory duty under Section 7 of the Childcare Act (2006) to secure early education places free of charge for all eligible children and therefore we would expect local authorities to carry out analysis to understand their local demand.We do publish termly experimental statistics showing the number of children in a place. The most recent publication showed that an estimated 339,974 children were in 30 hours places in the summer term. The full publication - including regional and local authority level breakdown - is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-summer-term-2018.

Schools: Religion

Mr William Wragg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that all state-funded schools provide pupils with the opportunity to develop specific and age-appropriate knowledge and understanding of religions as part of promoting mutual respect and tolerance of people with different faiths and beliefs.

Nick Gibb: All schools are required to promote fundamental British values including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith, and this is inspected by Ofsted. The Department has issued guidance on how schools can promote fundamental British values as part of their requirement to teach spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This guidance sets out that schools should enable students to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures. For many schools, religious education is likely to form part of their approach to promoting these values. Religious education (RE) is compulsory at all key stages in all state-funded schools to age 18. Therefore schools should already be providing an age-appropriate RE curriculum. Although the Department does not routinely monitor schools to ensure that they meet their statutory duties, my right Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State has a range of powers to ensure that schools comply where he investigates complaints and finds that they have not done so.

Schools: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed by schools that have been paid an annual salary of (a) less than and (b) more than £30,000 in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the numbers of full and part time regular teachers in state funded schools that have been paid an annual salary of less than £30,000 and of £30,000 or above in England (figures from November of each year): Full time and part time regular teachers, in state funded schools, paid an annual salary of less than £30,000 and of £30,000 or above in EnglandYearNumber of teachers earning under £30,000Number of teachers earning over £30,000Unknown/misreportedTotal number of teachers2010112,900360,90017,200490,9002011113,000362,3008,500483,8002012119,700366,7008,200494,7002013112,900354,20033,300500,3002014119,600357,80030,200507,7002015115,900369,00022,900507,8002016108,600372,20028,100508,9002017109,600378,90016,700505,100  Source: School Workforce Census.Figures are head counts rounded to the nearest hundred teachers. Includes teachers of all grades including both leadership and classroom.An assessment of the number of non-teaching staff broken down by the amount that they are paid is not held by the Department.

Holiday Activities and Food Research Fund

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the minimum amount that will be granted from the Holiday Activities and Food 2019 fund.

Nadhim Zahawi: Building on findings from the 2018 Holiday Activities and Food programme, we have recently invited organisations to bid for a share of £9 million made available to fund free holiday provision during the 2019 summer holidays for children eligible for free school meals. Organisations responding to this invitation will be responsible for coordinating provision within a local authority area.Given the great variation in local authorities across the country, we have not set a minimum funding amount per bid. Our intention is that the fund will support projects in each of the nine English regions.

Home Education

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish the results of the consultation on draft guidance for elective home education; and how many submissions were received for that consultation.

Anne Milton: The government response document resulted from the consultation on elective home education, which ended on 2 July 2018. This document along with the finalised guidance documents will be published soon.The number of responses received to the consultation were as follows:Type of responseNumber of responsesOnline2987Email274Hard Copy180

Disabled Students Allowances

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 199283 on Disabled Students Allowances, what information his Department holds on the demographic characteristics of the students that chose to take up the disabled students’ equipment allowance in each year since 2014-15.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The department has commissioned a research project to examine the effectiveness of Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) and the impact of DSAs on eligible students.

Disabled Students Allowances: Part-time Education

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 199283 on Disabled Students Allowances, if he will publish the information for part-time students.

Chris Skidmore: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Students: Disability Aids

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 199283 on Disabled Students Allowances, what steps he is taking to ensure disabled students that are unable to afford the £200 are able to access specialist equipment.

Chris Skidmore: Students from the lowest-income households who started their courses this year have access to the largest ever amounts of cash-in-hand support for their living costs. Maintenance support is available in addition to Disabled Students Allowance.

Disabled Students' Allowances: Visual Impairment

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 199285, whether support recommended through student needs assessments for students with visual impairments is required to be paid for by those students.

Chris Skidmore: Study needs assessments identify the type and level of support required for a student to access their course. This includes the support available from the student’s higher education provider (HEP), and the help available via Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs). Students should not be required to pay for reasonable adjustments provided by their HEP, or for support recommended by DSAs up to the maximum amount available for each allowance, with the exception of providing a £200 contribution towards computer hardware should this be recommended.

Special Educational Needs

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students (a) have been transferred, (b) are waiting to be transferred and (c) have not been transferred from a SEND Statement to an EHC plan.

Nadhim Zahawi: Data from local authorities shows that as of 15 December 2018, over 99.99% of the 236,225 statements of special educational needs in place on 31 August 2014 - the start of the transition period to Education Health and Care (EHC) plans - have either been: a) transferred to an EHC planb) assessed and a decision made not to transfer to an EHC plan orc) discontinued because they have left school at the end of compulsory schooling or after.d) reviewed and discontinued as special needs being met without Statement or EHC plan or for other reasons. The department is in contact with the local authorities who are working with families to address the specific circumstances in all remaining 67 cases and clear that the provision in the statement must continue until the review has been completed.

Educational Psychology: Staff

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who the tendering of project reference DFERPPU 2018/019 was awarded to; and when the results of the evaluation of the Educational Psychology Workforce in England his Department commissioned will be published.

Nadhim Zahawi: The tendering for project DFERPPU 2018/19 was to commission a research project into the workforce of educational psychologists. The procurement for this was via an open tender exercise and was published on contract finder at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. It was awarded to the University of Warwick, Institute of Employment Research.We intend to publish the evaluation of this research project on the department’s GOV.UK website by March 2019 and this will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications.

Special Educational Needs: Equipment

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to payments under the specialist equipment allowance, what the (a) minimum, (b) maximum and (c) average amount a student has had to contribute towards equipment.

Chris Skidmore: Occasionally, students with particularly complex equipment needs may contribute to the cost of other specialist equipment if they exceed the maximum allowance amount, which in the 2018/19 academic year is £5,529 for the whole course for full-time students. Figures on the numbers of students who exceed the maximum allowance amount are not kept routinely.Disabled students who are recommended a higher-powered computer to run assistive software as part of a Disabled Students’ Allowances needs assessment are required to contribute £200 towards the cost of their computer.

Disabled Students Allowances Quality Assurance Group

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding here Department has allocated to the Disabled Students Allowances Quality Assurance Group; and what proportion of that funding has been spent.

Chris Skidmore: The department does not allocate funding to the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) Quality Assurance Group (DSA-QAG).DSA-QAG is a charity, funded through an annual registration and audit fee collected from three groups of DSAs providers - Assessment Centres, Assistive Technology Service Providers and Non-Medical Helper organisations.

Children: Social Services

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of demand for children’s services provided by local authorities.

Nadhim Zahawi: Department data shows that since 2013, the number of children in need, children on child protection plans and looked after children, at 31 March 2018 have risen by 7.1%, 24.5% and 10.7% respectively.The government is working, between now and the Spending Review 2019, to get a sharper picture of demand for children’s services.The department is also working with MHCLG on the fair funding review of relative needs and resources, which is looking in more detail at levels of demand in local authorities.

Special Educational Needs: Derbyshire

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school children on Education, Health and Care Plans in Derbyshire do not have extra funding allocated to their schools for their plan.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held by the department. Local authorities must secure the provision specified in a child or young person’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Where this requires the local authority to provide additional ‘top-up’ funding, an agreement should be in place between the local authority and the institution that confirms the amount of top-up funding to be paid. This agreement does not form part of the EHC plan.

Special Educational Needs

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school children (a) are there and (b) have an Education, Health and Care Plan in each local authority area.

Nadhim Zahawi: The number of school children and the number with an Education, Health and Care Plan are published at local authority level in the statistics publication Special Educational Needs in England: January 2018 in table 12. The publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england-january-2018.

Educational Psychology

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many educational psychological assessments have been carried out in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally. The department does not collect data on the number of educational psychologist assessments carried out each year.

Foster Care: Gloucestershire

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people over the age of 18 have used the Staying Put arrangements to stay with foster parents in Gloucestershire since 2014; and how many time was such a person not granted continuity of care.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Children and Families Act (2014) introduced a new duty on local authorities in England to advise, assist and support fostered young people to stay with their foster families when they reach 18, if both parties agree. This allow the young person to transition to adulthood when they wish and from the security and stability of an established family base. As with other young people, some care leavers will choose to live independently at age 18; others will choose to live in a staying put arrangement for a short period whilst they complete their education; some will want and need ongoing support within a staying put arrangement until they reach their 21st birthday.Information on the number of children in Gloucestershire who ceased to be looked after in a foster placement on their 18th birthday who were eligible for care leaver support and were still living with their former foster carer (“staying put”) at age 18 or age 19 to 20 are shown in the attached tables.In the table, figures on the number of 18 year old care leavers are presented in a separate tab to figures on 19 and 20 year olds. They were only collected for the first time on an individual level basis in 2016 and are still classed as experimental statistics.Information on the number of times a child looked after is not granted continuity of care is not held centrally.



204375_Care_leavers_remaining_with_carers
(Excel SpreadSheet, 63.5 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Business: Fraud

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made in establishing what reforms to corporate liability for economic crime are necessary.

Lucy Frazer: This is a complex area of the law and the public consultation produced a range of competing views, which the Department has been analysing carefully with teams across Government since the Call for Evidence closed. The Government’s response is expected to issue in 2019.

Prisoners' Release: Homelessness

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reduce the number of prisoners who leave prison homeless.

Rory Stewart: Nobody should be released from prison without a roof over their head. We know that individuals are less likely to reoffend if they have a stable home to go to upon release. That is why the Government has launched a £100 million initiative to reduce and ultimately eliminate rough sleeping across England. Through this work we will invest £6.4 million over two years in a pilot to support individuals who have served 12 months or less in custody, and who are at risk of being released as homeless, to secure and maintain accommodation.Since 1 October, Prisons and Probation providers have been subject to a legal ‘Duty to Refer’ anyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to the Local Authority. This change means that offenders will receive meaningful housing assistance at an earlier stage, irrespective of their priority need.We also know that the support, provided by probation providers, to prepare individuals for release from prison is not meeting the standard we require. We have therefore taken decisive action to stabilise and improve the delivery of probation services. We are ending current Community Rehabilitation Company contracts early, while investing £22m per year to enhance the services that support individuals leaving prison and re-entering the community. We have introduced minimum standards so that all providers offer monthly face-to-face meetings with offenders during the first 12 months of supervision. This new service will commence from April 2019.

Prisoners: Self-harm and Suicide

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reduce the levels of self-harm and suicide in prisons.

Rory Stewart: The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and the incidence of self-harm across the estate. This is why we have established a prison safety programme through which we are taking forward a comprehensive set of actions to improve safety in custody. They include:investing in over 4,300 additional staff in order to deliver consistent, purposeful regimes;improving staff knowledge and understanding of the factors known to increase risk of self-harm, to help them to identify and respond appropriately to prisoners at risk. Our revised introduction to suicide and self-harm prevention training has already reached over 24,000 staff;improving the flow, quality and use of risk information about people coming into our prisons, to support effective decision-making about risk;producing an early days toolkit to help staff enhance the support that they provide for prisoners during the first few days and weeks in custody;renewing our partnership with Samaritans by confirming a further three years’ funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme, and working with them to share learning from the ‘Coping with Life in Prisons’ project, a successful pilot initiative in which Samaritans-trained ex-prisoners delivered emotional resilience training to groups of newly-arrived prisoners; andimproving the multi-disciplinary ACCT case management process for those identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Aiding and Abetting

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases involving a conviction on the grounds of joint enterprise have been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission since it was established; and of those cases how many people have been given leave to appeal.

Lucy Frazer: The Criminal Cases Review Commission have received 219 applications which they have categorised internally as a joint enterprise case. This categorisation only applies to applications received by the CCRC post the decision made by the Supreme Court in the case of R v Jogee [2016]. Four cases have been referred to the Court of Appeal for further appeal.

Forensic Science: Misconduct

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of court cases which will have to be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service to establish if they were affected by compromised data from private forensic drug testing firm Randox Testing Services Laboratory.

Lucy Frazer: This issue remains the subject of an ongoing police investigation to determine how many cases may have been affected and retesting of samples continues at pace. As such, it is not possible to provide an estimate at this time.

Prison Sentences

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Questions 189756 and 189757 on Prison Sentences: Males, how many (a) men and (b) women were sentenced to prison in the first six months of 2018 by Home Office offence code.

Rory Stewart: I refer the honourable member to my response to Question 202809 given on 20 December.

Ministry of Justice: Disclosure of Information

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has entered into in each year since 2005.

Edward Argar: The MoJ does not centrally hold information on non-disclosure agreements as there is no legal or business requirement to do so.

Designated Public Places Orders: Prosecutions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for the offence of consumption of alcohol in a designated public place under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 were made by each police force in each year from 30 September 2008.

Lucy Frazer: It is not possible to provide the number of prosecutions for alcohol consumption in designated public places made by each police force. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information about prosecutions brought by individual police forces. Published prosecution breakdowns by location are based only on where defendants were dealt with in court. The number of prosecutions for alcohol consumption in designated public places is available for each year between 2013 and 2017 in the Experimental statistics: Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool (offence code 14011).

Special Educational Needs: Appeals

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many tribunals there have been involving SEND appeals in each of the last five years; and what proportion of those appeals were successful in each of those years.

Lucy Frazer: Information about the number of appeals received by the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and the proportion of those appeals which were successful is published at www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

Prisons: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200701 on Prisons: Staff, whether his Department plans to start monitoring the number of equivalent staff in privately-operated prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200701 on Prisons: Staff, whether contractual changes to the required staffing information have been made since 2012.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200701 on Prisons: Staff, how many equivalent staff in privately-operated prisons there were in the last period for which information is available.

Rory Stewart: As we have previously stated all staffing matters, including the responsibility for ensuring the availability of sufficiently trained and experienced staff to maintain safe and decent prisons, lies with Contractors. There is no requirement in the contracts to agree staffing levels with the Ministry of Justice and there has not been any changes made to the required staffing information since 2012. As you know, each privately managed prison has a full-time on-site Controller employed by HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). The Controller has regular review meetings with the contractor against a range of performance indicators that will reflect numbers of staff in post, recruitment, training, sickness, and attrition. Any concerns in relation to these performance indicators are discussed at these meetings. Where action is needed, progress is monitored by the Controller and escalated within HMPPS where appropriate action can be taken in accordance with the contract. This may include a requirement for urgent improvement and/or financial deductions. The table below displays the most recent figures that the Ministry of Justice has for the number of funded posts for Prison Custody Officers at each privately managed prison and the dates that these relate to. AltcourseAshfieldBirminghamBronzefieldDoncasterDovegateForest Bank262.1274.6302157218.525926701/12/1830/11/1801/11/1830/11/1830/11/1830/11/1830/11/18Lowdham GrangeNorthumberlandOakwoodParcPeterboroughRye HillThameside230235.5284306333.514619230/11/1830/11/1801/11/1801/11/1801/12/1801/10/1830/11/18

Prisons: Staff

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200698 on Prisons: Staff, if he will place in the Library a copy of the new model for key workers for women in custody.

Edward Argar: We are planning to roll out key work in the women’s estate during 2019. The Women’s Policy Framework which has recently been published will be amended early in 2019 to include the model for delivering key work in the women’s estate. We will place a copy of the document in the library when it is finalised.

Children Act 1989 (Amendment) (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill [HL]

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward a regulatory impact assessment of the Children Act 1989 (Amendment) (Female Genital Mutilation) [HL] Bill.

Lucy Frazer: It is not anticipated that there will be any significant cost implications arising from the procedural change proposed by the Bill. As a result, an impact assessment is considered unnecessary.

Special Educational Needs

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times a tribunal (a) has been required to meet to consider amendments, (b) found in favour of the application for amendment and (c) decided there would be no change to an Education, Health and Care Plan in each local authority area in each year since the plans were introduced.

Lucy Frazer: Due to the volume of data required to answer this question, the information is attached as an annex to this answer.



XLS Statistics Annex A
(Excel SpreadSheet, 56.5 KB)

Ministry of Justice: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Lucy Frazer: The approximate total number of people working on EU exit across the MoJ is 110. The MoJ EU exit programme includes work on both deal and no-deal scenarios in preparation for the UK exit from the EU.

Ministry of Justice: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Lucy Frazer: There are currently no projects which have been put on hold within the department due to requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time is for appeals to the Tribunal against (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance assessments to be heard in (i) Leeds and (ii) England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: Information about the average waiting time for (a) personal independence payment (PIP) and (b) employment and support allowance (ESA) appeals, to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about waiting times for PIP and ESA appeals for hearing venues covering (i) Leeds and (ii) England for the period July – September 2018, the latest period for which data are available. Waiting times are calculated from receipt of the appeal to its final disposal. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing had been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier for its final disposal. Latest figures (to June 2018) indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made, and of these, 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals. For ESA, 3.5m ESA (post Work Capability Assessment) decisions have been made between April 2014 and March 2018 and of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.

Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000: Fines

Luke Hall: To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance that the Electoral Commission uses when determining the proportionality of setting the level of a variable monetary penalty.

Bridget Phillipson: The Electoral Commission has powers to impose a variable monetary penalty where it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a person has committed a prescribed offence or contravention under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Commission takes decisions on sanctions in line with its Enforcement Policy. This document was the result of a public consultation and is available on its website; I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.The Commission has called for an increase to the maximum penalty it can impose on political parties and others for offences or contraventions under the political finance rules. The Commission’s view is that the current maximum fine of £20,000 per offence could be seen as a cost of doing business, and that monetary penalties should be more proportionate to the income and expenditure of larger and well-funded parties and campaigners.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the implications were for the cost of the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre project of the Government’s decision to locate that centre in Victoria Tower Gardens instead of on Millbank.

Jake Berry: I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer to Question UIN 203298 on 21 December 2018.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Public Expenditure

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department bid for from the Treasury for EU-exit resources in 2019-20; pursuant to the written statement of 18 December 2018 of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Official Report HCWS1205, how he plans to spend the £35 million his Department has been allocated in 2019-20 for EU-exit; and pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 181171 on Emergencies: Planning, (a) what the cost to the public purse was of funding G7 Resilience Advisers in 2018-19 and (b) from which budget of his Department that cost has been met.

Jake Berry: MHCLG submitted a bid to HMT for resources for EU exit preparations to ensure that the Department is adequately prepared and local areas, communities and local economies have the capacity to react to any EU exit scenario. The Department is currently identifying where this money can best be allocated to ensure that local areas are properly supported and have the capacity to prepare for and can respond to EU exit.In response to (a),the cost of the appointments of G7 Resilience Advisers in 2018-19, including salaries and associated costs, are estimated at approximately £119,377. No external providers have been approached about this recruitment to fill these internal vacancies within our wider team of Resilience Advisers.With regard to (b), these appointments are being funded from within the Department’s administration budgets.

Carbon Monoxide: Alarms

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to require the installation of CO2 alarms in private rental properties with any fuel-burning appliance; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is not intending to bring forward legislation with respect to carbon dioxide alarms at this present time. It is, however, conducting a review to establish whether requirements to install carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in private rented properties should be extended to cover any fuel-burning appliance and whether the requirements should also extend to social housing. The findings of this review will be considered alongside responses to our social housing green paper and we plan to set out the Government response to this in due course.The law already requires that private landlords install a carbon monoxide alarm in any room having a solid fuel heating appliance. Private landlords are also required to ensure that the alarms are in working order on the first day of the tenancy. Failure to comply with the regulations can result in a penalty of up to £5,000.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Christchurch of 9 November 2018 on harmonisation of council tax.

Rishi Sunak: The Secretary of State responded to the letter from my Hon Friend by post on 5 December 2018. A copy of the letter has subsequently been sent by email.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect social housing tenants from carbon monoxide poisoning; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Social Housing Green Paper asked if new safety measures in the private rented sector, such as requirements to install carbon monoxide alarms, should be extended to social housing. Alongside this, the Government is carrying out a review to establish whether requirements to install carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in private rented properties should be extended to any fuel burning appliance and social housing. The findings of this review are being considered alongside responses to the Social Housing Green Paper. We plan to set out the Government response to the Green Paper in Spring 2019.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 29 November 2018 on Grenfell Update, Official Report HCWS1126, what types of dangerous cladding local authorities are able to remove from high-rise buildings under new measures on enforcement and remedial action.

Kit Malthouse: As highlighted in the written statement, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System operating guidance has been bolstered by an addendum, with specific guidance on the assessment of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding.The Housing Act 2004 and secondary legislation which underpin the Housing Health and Safety Rating System provide powers to local housing authorities to identify, assess hazards, and take enforcement action against owners of residential buildings in their area where those owners are not acting responsibly in respect of hazards. This includes unsafe cladding systems of whatever type.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Integrity Initiative

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant the Answer of 10 December 2018 to Question 198814 on Ministry of Defence: Integrity Initiative and with reference to the (a) invoice of 22 November 2017 to the Ministry of Defence from The Institute of Statecraft asking for payment into a bank account entitled The Integrity Initiative Programme, invoice number II 22 11 17UKR and (b) remittance advice of 4 December 2017 from the Ministry of Defence to the Institute of Statecraft, reference number 277966, contractor code K0584 / 00 for £6,788.52, what information his Department holds on that (i) invoice and (ii) remittance advice; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: This payment was made by the Ministry of Defence to the Institute of Statecraft on 29 November 2017. It was included in my earlier answer on this issue (Question 200608) and was for specialist training for the Army. This payment was not identified in the Department's search in response to Question 198814 as the payment was made to The Institute of Statecraft, rather than its Integrity Initiative programme.

Military Aid

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution, column 665, 18 December 2018 in response to the hon. Member for Colchester, Official Report, how many (a) regular and (b) reserve personnel will comprise the 3,500 service personnel that will be available to Departments in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) routinely conducts contingency planning with other Government Departments for a range of eventualities. The MOD is presently working with Departments across Government to clarify the precise requirement for military support. Until that work is completed it is not possible to provide a breakdown of what percentage will comprise Regular and Reserve forces. In line with MOD's Whole Force concept, whenever a force is generated, consideration is given to the utilisation of Reserves, particularly in specialist roles, and the augmentation of existing command structures.

Armed Forces: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made the number of members of the armed forces that have been paid an annual salary of (a) less than and (b) more than £30,000 in each year since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The number of members of the Armed Forces that have been paid an annual salary of less than and more than £30,000 in each year since 2010 is shown below Table 1 - UK Regular Forces Salaries at 1 April 2010 to 1 April 2018* DateLess than £30,000More than £30,00001/04/201097,70094,01001/04/201193,24093,13001/04/201289,65090,16001/04/201383,85086,86001/04/201476,23083,40001/04/201573,17080,55001/04/201662,71088,29001/04/201762,60086,77001/04/201861,20085,360 *Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, unless they end in "5", in which case they are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid systematic bias. UK Regular Forces comprises all UK Regulars from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force. Gurkhas and Full Time Reserve Service. There were a small number of individuals who did not have a pay record. Where this was the case their NATO Rank was used to determine their salary. Salary is defined as gross basic pay plus X-Factor and any Job Evaluation Supplements. Employer and pension contributions, allowances and other types of financial assistance, including expenses, are excluded. The salary is taken as a snapshot at 1 April each year.

Defence: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Maximising Competition on Defence Procurement Strategy, as set out in the Government response to the Twentieth to the Thirtieth reports from Committee of Public Accounts.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 December 2018 to Question 198141 to the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Dr Lewis).



Defence:Procurement
(Word Document, 26.49 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Brexit

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the written statement of 18 December 2018 of on public spending, Official Report HCWS1205, to which programmes his Department will allocate the £12million for planning for the UK leaving the EU.

Mark Lancaster: Her Majesty's Treasury has allocated £12 million of EU Exit funding to the Ministry of Defence for 2019-20. This will fund the administrative, legal and infrastructure requirements for Defence of leaving the EU, including for our bases and people in Europe. It also includes funds to preserve three Offshore Patrol Vessels for the security and enforcement of UK waters and fisheries. The breakdown of this funding will be confirmed within the Supplementary Estimates 2019-20 in early 2020.

Navy

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Oral Statement of 18 December 2018, Official Report, column 657, on Modernising Defence Programme, if he will publish the details of the increase in the mass of the Royal Navy.

Mark Lancaster: As set out in the recent report on the Modernising Defence Programme, we are doing well at realising the plans we set out for the Royal Navy as part of Joint Force 2025. New naval capabilities are coming on stream, most notably the first of our new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is making strong progress towards carrier strike initial operating capability.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to announce his Department's response to the review of single source procurement legislation.

Stuart Andrew: The review of single source procurement legislation identified several changes that could improve how the framework operates. Further work on these proposals has required additional stakeholder engagement on implementing the proposed changes, including cross-Whitehall engagement. This has had to take its place alongside other Government priorities. The Secretary of State for Defence will make an announcement on the outcome of the review when this engagement has been completed.

Defence: Renewable Energy

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he or his officials have had with US counterparts on the use of renewable energy in defence.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ministry of Defence officials regularly discuss logistic and technological issues with US colleagues, including how we meet our respective energy requirements.

Defence: Modernisation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's publication, Mobilising, Modernising and Transforming Defence: A Report on the Modernising Defence Programme, whether (a) headline findings of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review have been preserved and (b) Force 2025 remains on track.

Gavin Williamson: The fundamentals of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review remain right. The Modernising Defence Programme is about adapting how we pursue our established strategy in response to the more complex challenges that we now face. Joint Force 2025 remains on track.

Defence: Modernisation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's publication of 18 December 2018, Mobilising, Modernising and Transforming Defence: A report on the Modernising Defence Programme, for what reasons that publication contains no reference to his Department's Equipment Plan estimated budget deficit.

Gavin Williamson: The Government published a detailed report on the Defence Equipment Plan on 5 November 2018.

Defence: Modernisation

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's publication, Mobilising, Modernising and Transforming Defence: A Report on the Modernising Defence Programme, whether the Modernising Defence Programme is extant; and whether its principle purpose is to inform the planned cross-departmental Comprehensive Spending Review.

Gavin Williamson: The Modernising Defence Programme (MDP), supported by the additional £1.8 billion funding announced in the Autumn Budget, has established a set of policy approaches and capability investments that will help to keep us on track to deliver the right UK Defence for the coming decade. Elements of the work started under the MDP will continue as we work towards the 2019 Spending Review.

Military Aid

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which units from the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Army, (c) Royal Air Force and (d) Royal Marines will be deployed to Operation Yellowhammer.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence is in the process of identifying the most appropriate forces to use for Op YELLOWHAMMER. At this stage it is not possible to give a breakdown by Service. We continue to work closely with other Government Departments to refine the support package.

Ministry of Defence: Bulldog Trust

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in each financial year since 2015-16.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence has made no payments to the Bulldog Trust in these financial years.

Army: Young People

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer on 15 November 2018 to Question 190538 on Army: Young People, what estimate he has made of the number of people over 18 years of age that applied to join the army in the financial years (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15, (c) 2015-16, (d) 2016-17 and (e) 2017-18; and how many of those people have since started army training.

Mark Lancaster: The information requested will take time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.

Armed Forces: Financial Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what financial advice serving military personnel receive.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a voluntary system in which serving military personnel have a proportion of their pay directly transferred to a Lifetime ISA.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides financial education and awareness to Service personnel though the MoneyForce programme which provides accessible online support for the entire Armed Forces community via the MoneyForce website, available at the following link: www.moneyforce.org.uk.The MOD has not made any assessment of the potential merits of a voluntary system in which serving military personnel have a proportion of their pay directly transferred to a Lifetime ISA.

Military Aid: Drugs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of UK troops deployed in operations to tackle the international drugs trade.

Mark Lancaster: Around 300 military personnel and two Royal Navy vessels are currently deployed on Maritime Security Operations that include Counter Narcotics, Anti-Piracy and Anti-People Smuggling.

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2018 to Question 198864 on Ministry of Defence: Staff, for what reason that information which was available for the Answer of 12 May 2014 to Question 188387 on Nuclear Reactors is not available now.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence is undertaking a new project to collect data. This will support future workforce planning across the nuclear community.

Army: Recruitment and Resignations

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people (a) recruited into and (b) resigned from each infantry regiment in (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017 and (d) 2018; and the extent to which each regiment is at full complement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The information requested will take time to collate and I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.

Ministry of Defence: Fraud

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 21 of the Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Annual Report 2018, to what incident or incidents the £88.2 million for detected fraud in his Department refers.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes the risk of fraud, bribery and corruption seriously and is fully committed to delivering a robust counter-fraud and corruption capability. MOD is the only Department that has fully met all the functional standards set by the Cabinet Office for Government, followed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which has met them for internal fraud only.To better understand the value of fraud allegations being reported to MOD, a review of values attributed to new allegations received was undertaken. MOD has developed a Nominal Offence Value framework based on historic values of fraud experienced. The Nominal Offence Value is used when no valuation is available at the time of reporting. This approach has been reviewed and approved by the Cabinet Office Prevention Panel (an independent panel of cross Government experts).The £88.2 million refers to 861 separately reported incidents. It includes cases with an estimated value based upon the MOD's Nominal Offence Value framework.

Afghanistan: Parachute Regiment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to give the Parachute Regiment permissions to accompany (a) the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces and (b) the Kabul Security Force; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The Parachute Regiment are not accompanying the Afghan Security Forces, but instead are working in the UK-led Kabul Security Force, which is a NATO taskforce providing security and force protection for NATO advisors in the city.The total UK contribution in Afghanistan is around 1,100 troops in non-combat roles, of which around 700 are in the Kabul Security Force.

Trident: Procurement

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's report The United Kingdom’s Future Nuclear Deterrent: 2018 Update to Parliament, which companies that are part of the supply chain to the Nuclear Enterprise are located in the EU 27; and in what countries those companies are located.

Stuart Andrew: This information is not held in the format requested. The Ministry of Defence works closely with its Tier 1 suppliers to manage the extended supply chain.

Trident Missiles

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's report entitled The United Kingdom’s Future Nuclear Deterrent: 2018 Update to Parliament, when he plans to make a decision on replacing the warhead used by the UK's nuclear-armed submarines.

Stuart Andrew: As set out in the 2018 Update to Parliament, work is continuing to refine options and technical solutions to inform the Government's decision on replacing the warhead. We will continue to provide updates as work progresses.

Military Aid: Counter-terrorism

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in how many countries the UK is conducting military counterterrorism operations, and in how many of those countries the UK is (a) conducting air and drone strikes, (b) deploying combat troops, (c) constructing or retaining military bases and (d) building the capacity of partners to conduct counterterrorism and other operations.

Mark Lancaster: The information required to answer this question is taking time to collate. I will write to the hon. Member when it is available.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to increase (a) universal and (b) other transitional support to help the transition to universal credit  under managed migration.

Alok Sharma: We will identify those who, during the transition to Universal Credit under managed migration, will require additional support and, equally importantly, what that support should be. As we start to migrate claimants, we will do this in a gradual way, to learn from our approach and adapt it further to ensure it meets the needs of our vulnerable claimants. The Universal Credit (Managed Migration) 2018 regulations which have been laid before Parliament ensure that those living in temporary and supported accommodation will have access to transitional protection if they are managed migrated. These claimants will remain in receipt of their existing Housing Benefit while they continue to live in this form of accommodation and, therefore, no support paid for housing will be taken into account when considering if transitional protection should be awarded. This transitional protection is dependent on the Managed Migration regulations receiving Parliamentary approval. As announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget, the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance, and Income Support will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made from July 2020. Claimants will therefore receive one two week run-on payment when being migrated to Universal Credit. Both of these measures are subject to parliamentary approval. These payments are in addition to the 2 week run-on of Housing Benefit to support claimants when they transition to Universal Credit, which we introduced in April 2018.

Universal Credit: Vulnerable Adults

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hours of training is planned to be given to her Department's decision-makers to identify people who may be vulnerable or have complex needs for the purposes of the universal credit managed migration.

Alok Sharma: All DWP staff working with customers complete training that prepares them for their role. This includes developing the skills they need to support and communicate with a diverse range of customers, and specific training is provided for working with different vulnerable groups. We are taking a slow, measured approach to managed migration and this will allow for on-going evaluation of the process to ensure that it is working successfully, which will enable us to refine our methods to support claimants. The revised draft regulations now before Parliament provide that we must give claimants a minimum of three months in which to make a claim for Universal Credit and sets no maximum period in which a claim must be made. With unlimited flexibility to extend claim periods we will work with representative groups to produce guidance that will ensure adequate support for each individual claimant’s needs. Decision makers and all our customer facing staff undertake learning related to supporting vulnerable claimants. Decision Makers receive 19.5 hours of training on dealing with vulnerable groups and line managers review whether there is a need to refresh the knowledge / learning with individuals where appropriate.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy to provide disability benefit claimants with dual recording equipment during their benefit assessments.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who attend a face-to-face PIP assessment are allowed to record their assessment if they want to, in line with the standards set by the Department. However, the Department started a video recording pilot on 26th November 2018 for PIP claimants with face-to-face assessments booked from 10th December. The pilot enables us to test communications products and live testing of video recording, providing that claimants elect to participate. Findings from the pilot will inform views on rolling out video recording more widely, in order to promote greater trust and transparency.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the quality of disability benefit assessors' (a) decision making and (b) decision making on appeals relating to whether that benefit can be proceeded with.

Sarah Newton: Decisions on entitlement to benefit are made by the Department’s Decision Makers, informed by assessments undertaken by assessment providers. Assessments are carried out by qualified health professionals, who receive thorough training and regular checks on the quality of their work. Anyone falling below the required standards faces having their contract terminated. All Health Professionals are subject to on-going audit by our assessment providers to ensure that they deliver high quality assessments. The Department also undertakes independent audit to ensure that the advice provided to the Department’s decision makers is of suitable quality, fully explained and justified. Appeals Presenting Officers who attend tribunals on behalf of the Department also provide feedback to assessment providers.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will undertake a review of the quality of disability benefit assessors' decision-making when those decisions are found to have been taken in conflict with official guidance.

Sarah Newton: Decisions on entitlement to benefit are made by the Department’s Decision Makers, informed by assessments undertaken by assessment providers. Assessments are carried out by qualified health professionals, who receive thorough training and regular checks on the quality of their work. Anyone falling below the required standards faces having their contract terminated. All Health Professionals are subject to on-going audit by our assessment providers to ensure that they deliver high quality assessments. The Department also undertakes independent audit to ensure that the advice provided to the Department’s decision makers is of suitable quality, fully explained and justified. Appeals Presenting Officers who attend tribunals on behalf of the Department also provide feedback to assessment providers.

Personal Independence Payment: Denbighshire

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP mandatory reconsiderations in Denbighshire were (a) upheld and (b) dismissed in each quarter since January 2015.

Sarah Newton: The tables below provide Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) outcomes in Denbighshire by period of clearance in each quarter since January 2015 (Normal Rules). MRs where the decision was not revised  2015201620172018January to March10#10#April to June#10##July to September#10##October to December#20#n/a  MRs where the decision was revised but the award unchanged  2015201620172018January to March7013016080April to June3025010080July to September502206070October to December6026070n/a MRs where the decision was revised and the award changed  2015201620172018January to March30206040April to June10804030July to September20702030October to December209020n/a MRs that were withdrawn or cancelled  2015201620172018January to March#102010April to June#201010July to September020##October to December02010n/a  Data has been rounded to the nearest 10 and includes people living in the Denbighshire Local Authority Area. ‘#’ means fewer than 5 in this category.

Universal Credit: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many home visits officials her Department have made to assist disabled people in applying for universal credit in the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that when the managed migration of disabled claimants to universal credit commences those people do not experience undue difficulties.

Alok Sharma: The Department is committed to ensuring that all claimants are fully supported during the managed migration process. We are currently working closely with a large and diverse range of stakeholders, including those supporting disabled people, to design processes that work for everyone and most effectively support those who will need help during migration. We will begin managed migration on a small scale in 2019 to pilot our processes and ensure that they are working, adapting them and building on feedback before we begin to take on larger volumes of claimants.

Universal Credit: Disability

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of imposing sanctions on disabled claimants of universal credit on (a) the subsequent time they spend in receipt of benefit and (b) the likelihood of those claimants subsequently entering and remaining in employment.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the completion date for the roll-out of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The rollout of Universal Credit to all jobcentres was completed in December 2018. The next stage of the Universal Credit process will be managed migration, which will see claimants move from legacy benefits onto Universal Credit. We have said that we will begin managed migration on a small scale in 2019 to pilot our processes and ensure that they are working, adapting them and building on feedback before we begin to take on larger volumes of claimants. This managed migration process will be completed by the end of 2023.

Universal Credit

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of mixed-age couples who have been negatively affected by changes to universal credit.

Guy Opperman: Additional support to all claimants whatever their age, has been provided by the Autumn Budget 2017 and 2018 and will therefore not have any negative impact on mixed-aged couples claiming Universal Credit.Following Autumn Budget 2017, the Department has introduced a range of measures to support claimants and ensure no one has to experience hardship within the initial assessment period, these include: making advances more generous, removing the 7 waiting days; providing an additional transitional payment of 2 weeks of Housing Benefit; and changing how claimants in temporary accommodation receive support for their housing costs.Measures introduced at Autumn Budget 2018 will provide further assistance for claimants over the next few years. These include reducing, from October 2019, the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance, with the period over which these recoveries are made extended from 12 to 16 months in October 2021. Payment of Income Support and the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made, effective from July 2020, benefitting 1.1 million households. Additionally, from April 2019, there will be a £1000 increase in work allowances from April 2019, which will provide a £630 boost for households with children, and for people with disabilities.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of earnings data provided to her Department from HMRC Real Time Information PAYE data and used in live claims to calculate Universal Credit awards contains a BACS hash.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2018 to Question 195460, what proportion of RTI earnings data her Department corrects each month using the RTI BACS hash validation value made available for that purpose by HMRC.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether trade unions and the Trade Union Congress have been consulted on the managed migration of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carer's Allowance: Overpayments

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the rate of penalties charged in cases of over payment of Carers Allowance were in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Independent Case Examiner

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many cases the Independent Case Examiner has closed (a) after investigation and (b) without investigation; and for what reason those cases were closed in each month since September 2017.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below provides information on the cases closed by the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) Office and the reason they were closed, for each month since September 2017.  MonthClosed following issue of ICE Investigation Report Closed following resolution or settlement agreed with the complainant (without the need for an ICE Investigation Report)Rejected (complaint failed to meet ICE acceptance criteria)Closed for other reasons (includes withdrawn complaints and those closed following a High Court decision to grant permission for a Judicial Review of the Department’s handling of the change to women’s State Pension age)September 201746251681October 201755261826November 201764122022December 201750151191January 201867182132February 2018 70122474March 201858252964April 201853211720May 201869182102June 201885231922July 201861302223August 201879251811September 201861302276October 201887532016November 201882422516December 2018492611022521**Figure is related to the High Court decisions

Orchestras

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Draft Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, published on 22 November, whether the reciprocal arrangements on the future rules around some defined elements of social security coordination will include UK access to the A1 system exempting UK orchestras touring in European Union countries from paying social security contributions in those countries.

Alok Sharma: The details of which aspects of social security will be coordinated with the EU under the future relationship will be subject to negotiation with the EU.

Universal Credit

Sir Henry Bellingham: What assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of universal credit in helping people into work.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit has had a positive impact since its start, as shown through published research and analysis. This research shows us that people are spending more time looking for work, applying for more jobs and even doing jobs they would not have considered doing before. Our Labour Market Impacts Analysis is available online at gov.uk.

Universal Credit

Paula Sherriff: What assessment her Department has made of the effect of explicit consent restrictions placed on advice agencies on the ability of people to make a claim for universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Explicit consent is not required to make a new claim. If claimants cannot make or manage their claim on-line, they can receive face to face support through their local jobcentre or assistance through our Freephone telephone number. Once the claim is made, claimants who require agencies to act on their behalf can provide explicit consent.In our response to the Social Security Advisory Committee in November 2018 in respect of the managed migration regulations, we have agreed to explore options for improving the process of explicit consent in collaboration with the committee.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Birds of Prey: Conservation

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many hen harrier nests there were on (a) RSPB and (b) non-RSPB reserves in each of the last six years; how many of those nests failed to have any chicks fledge; and what the causes of each of those nest failures were.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has primary control over access to two known hen harrier breeding sites: the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale and United Utilities landholding in the Bowland Fells, a special protection area. Table 1. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by RSPBYearAreaOutcomeLikely reason for failure2014Bowland5 chicks fledged 2014Bowland4 chicks fledged 2015BowlandNest failedUnknown - chicks dead in nest2015Bowland1 chick fledged 2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedMale missing2015BowlandNest failedPredation2015GeltsdaleNest failedMale missing2016Geltsdale1 chick fledged 2018Bowland4 chicks fledged 2018Bowland4 chicks fledged 2018Bowland5 chicks fledged  Table 2. Breeding data from sites primarily controlled by other bodiesYearAreaOutcomeLikely Reason for failure2013County DurhamNest failedFemale disappeared/deserted2013NorthumberlandNest failedAbnormal eggs2014Cumbria2 chicks fledged 2014Peak District4 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria2 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria3 chicks fledged 2015Cumbria3 chicks fledged 2015Northumberland4 chicks fledged 2015Northumberland5 chicks fledged 2016Northumberland2 chicks fledged 2016Northumberland5 chicks fledged 2017Northumberland4 chicks fledged 2017Northumberland3 chicks fledged 2017NorthumberlandNest failedSuspected predation2017Northumberland3 chicks fledged 2017NorthumberlandNest failedLikely bad weather - chicks dead in wet nest2017Yorkshire DalesNest failedSuspected predation2017Yorkshire DalesNest failedSuspected predation2018Yorkshire DalesNest failedDesertion2018Yorkshire DalesNest failedDesertion2018NorthumberlandNest failedPredation2018NorthumberlandNest failedPredation or deserted2018NorthumberlandNest failedPredated2018Northumberland4 chicks fledged 2018Northumberland5 chicks fledged 2018Northumberland2 chicks fledged 2018Cumbria2 chicks fledged 2018Cumbria4 chicks fledged 2018Yorkshire4 chicks fledged

Drinking Water: Standards

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) improve the cleanliness of drinking water and (b) reduce the low-grade contamination of water supplies by lowering the number of pathogens in water; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Drinking Water quality in the UK is required to meet a rigorous and comprehensive set of standards laid down in legislation and set to be protective of public health and these apply to water for all consumers. These requirements are enforced by a robust regulatory regime. Additionally water companies are required to risk assess and mitigate risks of any additional substances not specifically listed and which might otherwise present a potential risk to human health. With respect to pathogens, companies are required to have in place robust disinfection processes. The standard for bacteria indicative of pollution likely to contain human pathogens is zero (none permitted to be present). It is a criminal offence to supply water that has not been disinfected. In 2017, in England, there was one detection of E.coli from 154,431 samples taken at treatment works and 11 detections of E.coli from 186,163 samples taken from storage points in the network. In all cases action was taken to rectify any issues identified. The Drinking Water Inspectorate provides independent scrutiny of the performance of water companies in meeting standards and publishes an annual report containing statistics on drinking water quality on its website at http://www.dwi.gov.uk/about/annual-report/2017/Summary_CIR_2017_England.pdf

Food: Manufacturing Industries

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of policies in the Government's Immigration White Paper on the level of staffing in the food and drink manufacturing sector.

George Eustice: The White Paper is the beginning of a consultation with employers about possible future options. Defra is considering the latest data, and working closely with industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. Existing employees will be able to stay and there will be a period where lower skilled workers will be able to continue to travel to the UK to work once the new immigration framework is implemented.

Rural Areas: EU Grants and Loans

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the letter of 18 November from the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the hon. Member for High Peak on small abattoirs, if he will provide (a) a list the 79 LEADER groups in England and (b) the closing date of applications for each LEADER group in each area.

George Eustice: Full details of the 79 LEADER groups are available through the Rural Development Programme for England LEADER homepage on gov.uk. At a national level, the LEADER programme is on track to commit the majority of its funds by March 2019 with more than half of these groups now closed to new applications. Individual LEADER groups close their programmes when they have sufficient demand to spend their full allocation. As a result, the decision to close is made by the LEADER groups and is shown on their individual websites. A list of LEADER programmes currently open is provided in the table below. Beds and Hunts ClaylandsChilternsClay ValesCoast, Wolds, Wetlands and WaterwaysDurham and Coast LowlandsEast KentEastern PlateauFieldfareGreensand RidgeHeart of WessexLoddon and TestMersey RuralNew ForestNorth NottinghamshireNorth Pennine DalesNorth Warwickshire Hinckley and BosworthNorth Wessex DownsNorth York Moors, Coast and HillsNorthern LincolnshireNorthumberland Coast and LowlandsNorthumberland UplandsPlain ActionRural SurreySouth East CornwallSouth NottinghamshireSouth PenninesVale ActionWealden and Rother Rural PartnershipWest Cheshire and WarringtonWest Kent

Home Office

Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the evidential basis for the decision that an application for the Windrush Scheme: Support in urgent and exceptional circumstances should not cost more than £5000.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has committed to setting up a compensation scheme that will redress what went wrong and to assist those affected in the Windrush generation as quickly and carefully as possible.The policy on support in urgent and exceptional circumstances applies where a specific support requirement is identified which requires immediate funding ahead of the Windrush Compensation Scheme being established. The policy statement published on 17 December includes among the factors for consideration that the cost should normally be less than £5,000.This sum is arrived at following a small number of cases in which this kind of exceptional support has been provided by the Windrush Taskforce to date. If the urgent requirement exceeds £5,000 the Home Office will consider such claims.The Windrush update provided to the Home Affairs Committee on 17 December includes details of exceptional financial support to the end of October 2018.

Asylum: Housing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions Police Scotland have attended an asylum seeker's property at the request of Serco, the asylum accommodation provider for Scotland.

Caroline Nokes: Incident Report data is held by Serco and reported to UKVI on a monthly basis. Details of incidents involving the Police and Serco would involve each incident being looked at individually and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Housing

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to award the new asylum accommodation contracts.

Caroline Nokes: The procurement and approval processes for the new asylum accommodation contracts is continuing and we expect to award the contracts as soon as this process concludes.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how (a) payments or assistance provided under the Windrush Scheme: support in urgent and exceptional circumstances policy may be taken into account in any subsequent claim under the Windrush Compensation Scheme and (b) applicants can anticipate how applying for urgent and exceptional support might affect their application to the compensation scheme.

Caroline Nokes: We will be announcing details of the Compensation Scheme and how to apply as soon as possible. It is right that any compensation payments may take into account funding or assistance already provided.

Immigration Controls

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations he has received from the travel industry on border control in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: We regularly work with businesses and stakeholders, including the travel industry, to ensure they are prepared for our exit from the EU.The Government will continue to work closely with the travel industry to understand their concerns and address them as well as to create opportunities. Border Force has established a dedicated Industry Partnerships team for such engagement.

Immigrants: Detainees

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total annual cost to the public purse has been of compensation paid to people who have been inappropriately held in immigration detention centres since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office wrote to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 25 June 2018 detailing information relating to wrongful detention compensation claims. A copy of the response can be found here: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/home-affairs/Correspondence-17-19/180625_Permanent_Secretary_Immigration%20Enforcement.pdfFor FY17/18 figure, please refer to the HO Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18 page 97, link below:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727179/6_4360_HO_Annual_report_WEB.PDFFor FYs 2010/11 and 2011/12, the Home Office does not hold the information in the format requested. Our ledger will not allow us to provide this level of detail for those Financial Years.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what form the review of the Windrush Scheme: Support in urgent and exceptional circumstances policy will take; how long it will take for those applying under the Windrush Compensation Scheme to receive payments; and whether there will be specific provision in the Windrush Compensation Scheme to ensure those in urgent need will receive funds rapidly.

Caroline Nokes: Paragraphs 9-11 of the policy statement on urgent and exceptional payments sets out that the Home Office will advise the claimant whether their application has been successful within 10 working days and earlier if possible. A letter informing them of the outcome will be sent within a further 48 hours and if the offer is accepted, any payment will be made as soon as possible and no later than 14 days.Claims assessed by the Taskforce to be particularly urgent will be prioritised. The policy for the Windrush Compensation Scheme is still being defined, but timing of payments will be dependent on when individuals submit their applications.

Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Annex A of the Windrush Scheme: Support in urgent and exceptional circumstances policy statement, published 17 December 2018, what effect having previously been denied entry to the UK will have on a claimant's application under the scheme.

Caroline Nokes: Paragraph 4 of the policy statement on urgent and exceptional payments specifies that one of the factors to be considered in assessing whether a claim meets the policy intention is “whether the claimant has previously been denied entry to the UK”.However, the list is not intended to be exhaustive and there may be other examples of exceptional and urgent situations.

Windrush Generation

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Annex A of his Department's policy statement entitled Policy Statement: Windrush Scheme: Support in urgent and exceptional circumstances, published in December 2018, whether support will be offered under that annex to people who do not have the funds to return to the UK but are not deemed to have urgent circumstances.

Caroline Nokes: The policy is designed to support people in urgent and exceptional circumstances. Where a situation is not urgent, claims will be considered through the Windrush Compensation Scheme, which will be launched as soon as possible.Should a claimant’s situation become urgent then they should contact the Taskforce on the freephone number or via email for assistance.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential need for enhanced security on the Northern Irish border in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Ben Wallace: There is widespread recognition that the UK and EU can most effectively combat security threats when we work together. It is important we maintain operational capabilities after Brexit.The UK is committed to delivering arrangements that will allow the Police Service of Northern Ireland to continue to tackle security threats, including international terrorism, the severe threat from dissident republicans, and serious and organised crime.The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK’s departure from the EU does not lead to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions the Government has held with the Irish Government on the potential need for enhanced security on the Northern Irish border in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Caroline Nokes: We have a close relationship with Ireland and have regular contact on a range of issues including security arrangements. This cooperation is ongoing and we remain committed to maintaining it as the UK leaves the EU.Both Governments are equally committed to ensuring that our departure from the EU does not lead to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Immigration: Appeals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what his Department’s policy is on the timeframe for decisions to be issued following the consideration of an appeal based solely on human rights grounds in immigration cases.

Caroline Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration does not have a published service standard for processing appeals. Where the appeal has been allowed in favour of the appellant, the Home Office undertakes careful consideration of the judge’s determination in order to conclude whether to submit an application for permission to appeal within the time limits set by the Tribunal Procedure Committee.

Police: Pensions

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the pension liability for police forces in 2019-20 as a result of the quadrennial revaluation; and what proportion of that liability will be covered by the Government.

Mr Nick Hurd: The estimated additional costs to police forces in 2019/20 as a result of the increase in employer pension contributions for the police officer pension scheme is £302m.In his Budget, the Chancellor committed to providing funding for the police in 2019/20 to cover additional pensions costs above the £165m which was expected at Budget 2016. The pensions grant announced at the settlement totals £137m for police officer pensions and is therefore equivalent to 45% of the increased costs. The police settlement also provided a further £16m for forces who have staff in the civil service pension scheme. In total, the police settlement provides an additional £153m to policing in respect of their additional pension pressures in 2019/20.The Government is enabling an overall increase in funding of up to £970m in police funding including precept and national priorities. This pensions funding, taken together with the additional grant funding and local precept, provides sufficient means for the police to meet cost increases, while continuing to recruit and invest in the capabilities they need.

National Police Chiefs' Council

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many meetings he has held with the National Police Chiefs Council's Brexit implementation team on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office is engaging on a regular basis with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) to determine the impact of EU Exit on policing and plan accordingly.It is entirely responsible and appropriate that we prepare for every eventuality and we will continue to work closely with all of our operational partners, including the police, on contingency planning to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been allocated to the (a) National Police Chiefs' Council and (b) police forces for contingency planning in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: We have provided £2.4 million to the National Chiefs’ Police Council to assist in their preparations for leaving the United Kingdom without a deal. We have also paid £845k to Kent Police for their European Union Exit planning.We are engaging closely with the police sector in relation to planning and funding pressures in relation to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

Police

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had discussions with the National Police Chiefs' Council's Brexit contingency planning team on the potential loss of tools and capability available to police forces in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office is working closely with a range of operational partners, including the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), on policing and security cooperation between the UK and the EU in the context of EU Exit.Our preferred scenario is a new legally binding agreement between the UK and the EU on internal security. However, as a responsible Government, we are preparing – on a contingent basis – for a no deal scenario in which we would move co-operation to alternative, non-EU mechanisms.We are working closely with the NPCC on these joint preparations, and under ‘Operation Safety Net’, the NPCC is establishing a new national unit called the International Crime Co-ordination Centre. Regular engagement is on-going at operational, official and senior official levels.

Money Laundering: Pakistan

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made in tackling money laundering between the UK and Pakistan.

Mr Ben Wallace: As we set out in the National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2017, there are large remittance and business links be-tween Pakistan and the UK, and there is a risk of criminal groups exploiting these links to facilitate money laundering, particularly the laundering of the proceeds of corruption, fraud and drug trafficking.Cooperation with Paki-stan on these issues is a priority for the government and law enforcement agencies. In March 2017, the UK signed new agreements with Pakistan to enhance cooperation on a number of security and home affairs priorities, including on criminal finances. There has since been positive engagement between the UK and Pakistan on these issues at senior and Ministerial level.

Asylum: Applications

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many occasions his Department has invited home-country officials to interview asylum seekers; and what the nationality of those officials was in each year since 2010.

Caroline Nokes: We have a proud history of providing protection to those who need it. All asylum claims are carefully considered on their individual merits by assessing all evidence provided by the claimant against published country information. In line with our legal duty of confidentiality, we do not disclose information about asylum claims to an individual’s home country. We do not facilitate interviews with representatives from an asylum seeker’s home country whilst their claim is being considered.Only after an individual’s asylum claim is refused, may it become necessary, as with foreign national offenders and those without a legal basis for remaining in the UK, to confirm their identity and nationality with the receiving country and to obtain a travel document to facilitate a voluntary or enforced return.It is a requirement of some foreign governments to interview such individuals to confirm identity/nationality and to agree to issue a travel document. These interviews are coordinated in a number of ways based on the circumstances of the person’s case and the particular process for re-documentation stipulated by the receiving foreign government. These include ad-hoc interviews for individuals and regular interview exercises with UK based officials from diplomatic missions, and central government officials visiting the UK.The number of occasions these activities took place is not held in a format that is reportable.The following is a non-exhaustive list of countries whose officials have conducted interviews;Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Liberia, Malaysia, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Tunisia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Home Office: Bulldog Trust

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made any payments to The Bulldog Trust in each financial year since 2015-16.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has no record of any payments made to The Bulldog Trust in each financial year from 2015-16 up to and including 2017-18 only.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2018 to Question 192832, whether EU citizens with Leave to Land who do not apply for pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will maintain the same rights once the UK has left the EU.

Caroline Nokes: A person granted leave to land under earlier (repealed) legislation is treated for the purposes of the Immigration Act 1971 as having been granted leave to enter the UK. Existing leave to enter is not affected by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. EU citizens with limited or indefinite leave to enter do not need to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme, but they may do so if they wish.

Immigration: Health Services

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the immigration health surcharge will be increased from £200 to £400; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The immigration health surcharge will increase to £400 for each year of leave to be granted, on 8 January 2019. Students and Youth Mobility Scheme applicants will pay a discounted rate of £300 for each year of leave to be granted.The increased rate will apply to new applications made on or after this date.

Visas: Foreign Investment in UK

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status is of Tier 1 (investor) visa applications.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 September 2018, HCWS1159, how the review of Tier 1 (investor) visas will be conducted; which bodies will be consulted as part of that review; and what the timescale is for that review to report.

Caroline Nokes: The Tier 1 (Investor) visa remains in operation and applications continue to be considered. The Home Office remains committed to reforming the route in the spring and will make a further announcement in due course.

Migrant Workers

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will define a (a) high-skilled, (b) medium-skilled and (c) low-skilled migrant in the context of The UK's future skills-based immigration system White Paper.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what occupations would be considered (a) high-skilled, (b) medium-skilled and (c) low-skilled in the context of The UK's future skills-based immigration system White Paper.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in the White Paper, ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’, we propose to define high, medium and lower skilled occupation by referring to the national Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) levels. High-skilled roles require skills at degree level or above (RQF 6 and above); medium-skilled require skills between A-Level and Foundation Degree, or equivalent (RQF 3-5) and lower-skilled roles include those at GCSE level or below (below RQF 3).Occupations falling into each of these skill levels will be set out in codes of practice. The existing codes of practice for our current main immigration work route under Tier 2 can be found at Appendix J of the published immigration rules, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-j-codes-of-practice-for-skilled-work

Immigration

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which countries his Department has identified as a high risk of abuse of the immigration system.

Caroline Nokes: We use our immigration system to help mitigate a wide range of threats to the UK. Risk is used and assessed at many places within the immigration system and the risk posed by different countries is determined by looking at the full range of threats to the UK, not just immigration abuse.Those countries where such risks may be higher will usually be subject to our visa regime and will be visa nationals. All cases are decided on the individual merits of the application.

Immigration

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which countries his Department has identified as a low risk of abuse of the immigration system.

Caroline Nokes: We use our immigration system to help mitigate a wide range of threats to the UK. Risk is used and assessed at many places within the immigration system and the risk posed by different countries is determined by looking at the full range of threats to the UK, not just immigration abuse.Those countries where such risks may be lower will not usually be subject to our visa regime and will be non-visa nationals. All cases are decided on the individual merits of the application.

Department for International Development

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 200567, if she will place in the Library copies of (a) the separate annual MoUs signed by her Department and the Palestinian Authority since March 2016 and (b) copies of all ministerial correspondence with the Palestinian Authority on those agreements.

Alistair Burt: Copies of correspondence relating to the extension of that MoU prior to March 2016 have already been laid in the Commons library. Since then there has been no further written ministerial correspondence with the PA on this matter. I will place copies of the annual MoUs from March 2016 to May 2018 in the Commons library, with redactions relating to personal and commercial information.

Overseas Aid

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to measure and monitor the standard and quality of the jobs created by UK development assistance.

Alistair Burt: No country can eradicate poverty or transition from aid without inclusive economic growth that produces quality jobs. This is a defining development challenge for DFID’s partner countries and is at the heart of building global prosperity and stability that is in the UK’s national interest. DFID’s 2017 Economic Development Strategy expressly commits us to deliver more and better jobs – seeking to progressively improve job quality and raise standards as countries develop. As developing countries generate better quality jobs, opportunities increase for UK trade and investment that further contribute to poverty reduction and mutual prosperity. The Department is currently working to improve how it monitors and measures its jobs impacts – including through partnerships with the World Bank and the Office of National Statistics to capture job quality and key elements of decent work.

UNAIDS

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Report on the work of the Independent Expert Panel on prevention of and response to harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power at UNAIDS Secretariat, what recent assessment she has made of the allegations against UNAIDS; and if she will make a statement on the future of the UK's contributions to that agency.

Alistair Burt: The UK has been a driving force in tackling this issue, galvanising the aid sector to put in place the vital initiatives needed to finally rid it of those who seek to tarnish its reputation. We have been very clear that we will not tolerate practices which do not reach the highest standards in relation to tackling harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power. The UK expects the current Executive Director to step down. This is vital to signal a strong response to this critical issue within and beyond the organisation. The UK’s next scheduled payment to UNAIDS is not due until later in the year. We will assess progress in implementation of the Panel’s recommendations as part of our regular review of funding. A statement was issued by the Secretary of State on UNAIDS on Thursday 20 December 2018, reference: HCWS1223.

Middle East: Minority Groups

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to collect disaggregated population data on minority groups in the Middle East region to establish whether UK aid reaches those groups.

Alistair Burt: The UK is firmly committed to ensuring aid reaches the most vulnerable, including those from religious minorities, where they constitute part of that category. We conduct regular assessments through a range of sources to ensure assistance is provided in conformity with the international humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality. UK funding is distributed on the basis of need to ensure that civilians are not discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion or ethnicity. DFID does not identify or record beneficiaries by their religion and ethnicity and does not plan to collect disaggregated population data on minority groups. Our partners carry out comprehensive vulnerability assessments to ensure aid is reaching those most in need, and we are confident that minorities, including faith communities, are not overlooked in this process.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Debts

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect on poverty reduction in sub-Saharan countries of the increasing levels of debt owed by those countries.

Harriett Baldwin: We keep debt levels in sub-Saharan African countries under regular review along with other key macroeconomic indicators. Average debt levels in Sub-Saharan Africa have grown from 28% of GDP in 2010 to 48% in 2018 although this is still significantly lower than the 68% of GDP in 2000. As of 1st November 2018, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) classify 6 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as being in debt distress with a further 10 as being at “high risk of debt distress”. DFID remains concerned about rising debt levels in Africa and the UK continues to raise the need for action on this issue, both with international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF and international fora such as the G7 and G20. The relationship between debt and poverty reduction is complex. Every country is different, and we work closely with governments, the IMF, World Bank and other development partners to ensure the impact on poverty is factored into decisions relating to public finance.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of ministerial visits of his Department to discuss the withdrawal agreement from 3 to 10 December; and if he will place the itineraries of those visits in the Library before the Christmas recess.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department for Exiting the European Union has identified no costs specific to ministerial visits to discuss the withdrawal agreement from the 3rd to the 10th December.

David Cameron

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether (a) he, (b) any ministers in his Department and (c) any staff of minsters or of his Department have (i) met or (ii) held discussions with former Prime Minister David Cameron in the last two months on the UK leaving the EU.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Neither the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, nor other DExEU Ministers, nor officials of the Department have had any official meetings or discussions on the UK’s exit from the EU with former Prime Minister David Cameron in the past two months.

Travel

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials in his Department have had with the travel industry on the possibility of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Ministers and senior officials from DExEU and across Government continue to engage extensively with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy and all parts of the UK. This includes regular meetings of the Tourism Industry Council which acts as a point of dialogue between Ministers and the industry, and roundtable meetings with airlines and tour operators. These meetings have covered a range of EU Exit issues and their impact on the industry.Details of Ministerial and senior official meetings on Government business are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are made publicly available on GOV.UK.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make it his policy to seek to secure a ring-fenced agreement with the EU on citizens rights even if no agreement on other matters related to the UK leaving the EU can be concluded and ratified by 29 March 2018.

Mr Robin Walker: The Government’s approach throughout this process has been to seek to agree all of the issues related to our withdrawal from the European Union. The agreement that we have reached on citizens’ rights is the only way of fully protecting the rights of all citizens.The Prime Minister has been clear that EU citizens resident in the UK by the 29 March will be able to stay and have their rights protected. We published the Citizens’ rights: EU citizens and UK nationals policy paper on 6 December, which sets out further details of our offer to citizens in a no deal.We are engaging Member States and urging them to reciprocate this offer for UK citizens in full.

EU Law

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which pieces of retained EU law it has identified as unable to operate effectively after Brexit but it which it does not intend to remedy or mitigate under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The EU (Withdrawal) Act is a crucial piece of legislation that ensures we have a functioning statute book on exit day, providing certainty to people and businesses across the UK. A central list is not held in the form requested, but the Government remains confident of ensuring a functioning statute book for exit day.

Treasury

Child Tax Credit: Carers

Melanie Onn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many kinship carers who applied for child tax credit were exempt from the two-child limit in 2017-18; and how many of those people were financially affected by the benefit cap in that period.

Elizabeth Truss: The number of Child Tax Credit claimants who received an exception from the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children on the basis of non-parental care was 270 on 2 April 2018. This information is published and can be found by following the URL:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-and-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2018 No claimants were excluded from financial support where supporting documentation was provided. HMRC does not hold data on how many of these kinship carers were financially affected by the benefit cap. The most recent benefit cap figures were published on 1 November 2018 and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-august-2018

Tax Avoidance

Alison McGovern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 December 2018 to Question 201166 on Tax Avoidance, what estimate his Department has made of the level of self-employment to produce those projections.

Mel Stride: The off-payroll working rules ensure that individuals who work like employees pay broadly the same tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) as other employees, regardless of the structure they work through. As announced at Budget 2018, the government is extending the earlier reforms to improve compliance with these rules in the private sector. The rules do not affect people who are genuinely self-employed. The forecast costing was analysed and certified by the independent OBR.

Revenue and Customs: Canterbury

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 7 March 2018, Official Report, column 428, how many and what proportion of HMRC staff in Charter House Canterbury are expected to (a) transfer to HMRC Regional Centre and (b) complete their career in that location.

Mel Stride: HMRC wants to keep as many employees as possible as it moves to its regional centres. It has been clear that if someone can move to a regional centre and has the skills it needs or is able to develop them, there will be a role for them. For Canterbury, Charter House, current planning data shows that around 34 full-time equivalent (FTE) people, or 51 per cent, will transfer to either the Croydon or Stratford Regional Centre. Canterbury, Charter House is scheduled to close in February 2020, before the Stratford Regional Centre opens. HMRC staff who can will therefore initially move to Maidstone, Medvale House, which will be staying open until late 2020-21. HMRC expects 45 FTE people, or 67 per cent, will transfer to Maidstone. HMRC cannot be certain about how many will actually be able to move to a regional centre or the numbers who may complete their career at either Canterbury or Maidstone until one-to-one discussions with managers have taken place. These will be held around a year before any move. Demographic data for the office suggests that many staff may choose to retire when the office closes.

Students: Loans

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount by which the deficit will increase in 2018 as a result of the ONS decision on the treatment of student loans in Government accounts.

Elizabeth Truss: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published estimates of potential impacts of the new treatment on the deficit in their October 2018 Economic and fiscal outlook, which is available here: https://obr.uk/box/accounting-for-student-loans/ However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has made it clear that there is a lot to decide before their methodology is finalised. The ONS currently aim to fully implement the new treatment for student loans in the public sector finances in September 2019.

Revenue and Customs: Fraud

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) reports of suspicious (i) e-mails, (ii) text messages and (iii) phone calls asking for personal information or threatening a lawsuit were received by HMRC, (b) individuals believed to have been responsible for those communications were (i) identified, (ii) charged and (iii) convicted, (c) HMRC staff were deployed to investigate phishing scams in 2017-18 and (d) HMRC staff have been deployed to investigate such scams in 2018-19; and what recent (A) steps HMRC has taken and (B) assessment he has made of its performance in tackling such scams.

Mel Stride: From April 2018 to November 2018, HMRC has received: reports of suspicious:(i) e-mails – 636,789(ii) text messages – 28,639(iii) phone calls asking for personal information or threatening a lawsuit were received by HMRC – 44,435 HMRC has a dedicated Customer Protection team targeting scams, which has: Reduced reported HMRC-branded phishing texts by 90% due to innovative work with network operators and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).Requested removal of over 14,000 websites during financial year 2017/2018.Blocked half a billion phishing emails through technical controls since 2016.Published guidance on GOV.UK on how to identify scams that has been visited 1.4 million times during financial year 2017/2018.Responded to nearly 1 million phishing referrals in the same period.Recovered over 130 websites infringing the HMRC brand including those which host low value services such as call connection sites, saving customers in excess of £2.4M in charges to date. However, the information required to answer (b), (c) and (d) cannot be provided as releasing it may prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. The information could be used by individuals for criminal activity and departmental IT systems could be exposed or left vulnerable to interference or attack.Doing so could give criminals valuable insight into HMRC’s capabilities and processes in this area and cybersecurity in general, opening up the Department and the wider public to more informed and effective scams and attacks. While publishing the information requested could, on the face of it, reassure the public that HMRC is suitably resourced to handle risks posed by cybercrime, on balance it is not in the public interest.

Public Expenditure

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer,  with reference to the Written Statement of 18 December 2018 on Public Spending, HCWS1205, what the value was of each Department's bid for funding.

Elizabeth Truss: As part of preparing for the UK’s departure from the EU, the Treasury has allocated £2bn of funding for departments in 2019-20. Details of the figures allocated to individual department were announced in the Written Statement on 18th December 2018 (HCWS1205). As ever, the Treasury continually engages with departments on spending pressures. These allocations are reflective of departmental need in various EU Exit scenarios. HM Treasury does not publish bids received from departments for public spending.

Aviation: Technology

Sir Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to exempt electronic conspicuity devices used in general aviation from VAT.

Mel Stride: Under EU law it is not possible to exempt electronic conspicuity devices from VAT. VAT incurred on such devices by VAT registered businesses will be recoverable from HMRC subject to normal VAT recovery rules.

Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been allocated to the devolved administrations to help them prepare for the possibility that the UK does not agree a Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government is making additional funding available so that departments and the devolved administrations can prepare effectively for EU Exit. More than £4.2 billion has been provided since 2016, including over £2 billion for core Brexit activity in 2019-20 for deal and no deal scenarios.The 2019-20 allocations were announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 18 December 2018. The devolved administrations received their full share of additional funding in devolved areas through the Barnett Formula, with the Scottish Government allocated £54.7m, the Welsh Government allocated £31.1m, and the Northern Ireland administration allocated £20.4m. The Police Service Northern Ireland has received a further £16.5m to reflect the specific and unique circumstances in Northern Ireland.This follows 2018-19 Barnett-based allocations from a £1.5 billion fund, which provided the Scottish Government with £37.3m, the Welsh Government with £21.4m, and the Northern Ireland administration with £15.2m.

Revenue and Customs: Brexit

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the additional £375 million of funding allocated to HMRC for preparations for the UK leaving the EU will be spent on recruiting HMRC customer service and compliance staff.

Mel Stride: The amount of funding that will be spent on HMRC customer service and compliance staff in 2019/20 is dependent upon the eventual scenario of which the UK is exiting the EU. HMRC will continue to work with HM Treasury on its exact spending plans as these are confirmed.

Revenue and Customs: Brexit

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the additional £375 million of funding allocated to the HMRC to prepare for the UK leaving the EU will be spent on new technology and IT requirements for customs and borders.

Mel Stride: The amount of funding that will be spent on new technology and IT requirements for customs and borders in 2019/20 is dependent upon the final scenario under which the UK leaves the EU. HMRC will continue to work with HM Treasury on its exact spending plans as these are confirmed.

Revenue and Customs: Recruitment

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the additional 3,000 HMRC customer service and compliance staff will be recruited at each (a) pay grade and (b) job function in each region.

Mel Stride: The requirement for HMRC EU Exit customer service and compliance staff in 2019/20 is dependent upon the final scenario under which the UK leaves the EU. HMRC will continue to work with HM Treasury on its exact spending plans as these are confirmed.

Tax Avoidance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many providers of tax avoidance schemes paid HMRC a penalty in 2018.

Mel Stride: HMRC’s top priority in dealing with the promoters of tax avoidance schemes is to change their behaviour so that they stop this activity altogether. HMRC uses a range of powers to achieve this, including the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes legislation. As a result of HMRC’s concerted action against them, a number of major promoters have co-operated with HMRC and have either stopped selling schemes or ceased in business altogether.Providers of tax avoidance schemes face penalties if they fail to comply with their obligations under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes or Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes regimes, or if they enable another person to use tax avoidance arrangements which HMRC later defeats.

Customs

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HMRC has spent on (a) new technologies and (b) IT systems for customs after the UK has left the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC estimates that the costs to the end of March 2019 will be: £4.8m on new technologies relating to EU Exit through the Policy Driven Change Programme. £120m on Customs IT systems for EU Exit preparations. This includes the customs related systems which will need to operate at the border in the event of a no deal outcome with the EU.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the BACS hash information feed HMRC receives to support RTI data validation is able to identify the date that earnings are credited to each employee's bank account.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the BACS hash information feed provides HMRC with the date on which an employee's earnings are credited to the employee's bank account.

Mel Stride: The BACS hash information feed that HMRC receives to support the validation of Real Time Information (RTI) submitted by customers contains the date that earnings are credited to an employee’s bank account. The availability of this information is restricted to that automated process.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 29 November 2018 to Question 195470 on PAYE, whether the 95 per cent of RTI submissions reported on time refers to the (a) pay date self-certified by the employer in their PAYE Full Payment Submission or (b) date on which payment was credited to the employee's bank account as reported by the BACS hash information.

Mel Stride: HMRC’s assessment of timely filing of Real Time Information (RTI) is based on the pay date provided by employers and pension providers.

Digital Technology: VAT

Lyn Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the planned HMRC guidance pack setting out advice for UK businesses on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal, whether that guidance will inform UK business to consumer digital services exporters who fall below the turnover threshold for VAT registration in relation to cross-border trade in digital services within the EU that the new arrangements coming into force as a result of the Value Added Tax (Place of Supply of Services) (Supplies of Electronic, Telecommunication and Broadcasting Services) Order 2018 will no longer apply to them in that scenario.

Mel Stride: HMRC published a Technical Notice on 23 August 2018 entitled ‘VAT for businesses if there’s no Brexit deal’. The guidance explains the actions businesses will need to take if they want to continue using the Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) scheme after the UK leaves the EU. Additional guidance was also sent to all UK users of the VAT MOSS scheme on 27 December 2018 explaining that, should the UK leave the EU without a deal, the threshold will cease to apply to UK businesses. HMRC will continue to communicate key messages and publish further guidance on the impact of EU exit on VAT and the MOSS scheme to support businesses in preparing for EU exit.

Digital Technology: VAT

Lyn Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the planned HMRC guidance pack setting out advice for UK businesses on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal will contain information on the requirement for UK B2C digital services exporters to register for the non-Union VAT MOSS scheme in an EU member state after the day of exit but before the 10th day of the month following a B2C sale into the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC published a Technical Notice on 23 August 2018 entitled ‘VAT for businesses if there’s no Brexit deal’. The guidance explains the actions businesses will need to take if they want to continue using the Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) scheme after the UK leaves the EU. HMRC will continue to communicate key messages and publish further guidance on the impact of EU exit on the MOSS scheme to support businesses in preparing for EU exit.

Digital Technology: VAT

Lyn Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) average and (b) total cost to (i) UK B2C digital services exporters that fall below the turnover threshold for VAT registration in relation to cross-border trade in digital services within the EU and (b) other B2C UK services exporters of registration for the non-Union VAT MOSS scheme in an EU Member State in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mel Stride: The costs to service exporters will depend on the precise circumstances of the exporter in question, including the extent to which they have any VAT liability in the UK or the EU. The UK MOSS scheme costs a participating business around £40 per annum.

Credit: Interest Rates

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the Financial Conduct Authority's ability to enforce their own affordability checks on high-cost credit.

John Glen: The regulation of consumer credit is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers and to take action against firms and individuals that do not meet its standards. FCA rules are based on the principle that money should only be lent to a consumer if they can afford to repay it. The rules set out what is expected of firms, and the sanctions if they lend irresponsibly. Furthermore, the FCA proactively monitors the market, focusing on the areas most likely to cause consumer harm. It has prioritised the high-cost credit sector, and taken action to ensure that firms are implementing its rules correctly. Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the FCA, and the Government will continue to work closely with the FCA to ensure all customers are treated fairly.

Treasury: Brexit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the accounting officer for his Department has sought a written ministerial direction for any expenditure on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Elizabeth Truss: I can confirm that HM Treasury’s accounting officer has not requested a written ministerial direction in relation to any expenditure on contingency planning for the United Kingdom leaving the European Union ‘without a deal’.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Public Libraries

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on levels of social mobility of access to public libraries.

Michael Ellis: Libraries play an important role in giving everyone opportunities to improve their life chances and achieve their full potential. In doing so they serve a diverse range of people from all backgrounds, including those in lower socio-economic groups. In addition, DCMS’s Taking Part Survey indicates that unlike other cultural sectors, public library use in 2017/18 by people in black or minority ethnic groups is significantly higher (40.9% having visited a public library in the previous 12 months) than for people in the white ethnic group (31.7%). In recognition of this, the Government funds the Libraries Taskforce to encourage good practice and innovation to public library services in achieving the strategic outcomes set out in its 2016 strategy Libraries Deliver: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016-2021. DCMS also invested £3.9 million in the Libraries: Opportunities for Everyone fund to support innovative library service activity in 2017/18 to benefit disadvantaged people and places in England, including projects to help people develop their skills and achieve their potential.

Social Media: Data Protection

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with social media companies on preventing data protection infringements.

Margot James: Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media companies on a range of issues including the prevention of data protection infringements and tackling online harms. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Disclosure of Information

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many non-disclosure agreements her Department has entered into in each year since 2005.

Karen Bradley: Information prior to 2011 is not held. Since 2011, my Department has entered into four non-disclosure agreements.

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many civil servants in her Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Karen Bradley: Staff across the Department are engaged in various aspects of work for planning to leave the EU without a deal. The number of staff in the central EU Exit team is 16. Additional staff were recruited to fill these roles and no staff were moved from other projects to work in these roles.

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Karen Bradley: My Department is currently carrying out a prioritisation exercise as part of its contingency planning. At the time of answering, no projects have been put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK to leave the EU without a deal.

Attorney General

Business: Fraud

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Attorney General, what progress his Department has made in ensuring that the UK has adequate corporate criminal liability for economic crime.

Robert Buckland: The Call for Evidence on Corporate Criminal Liability for Economic Crime contained a number of different options for reform, including a proposal to extend the failure to prevent offence to wider economic crimes other than bribery or tax evasion. The Government’s response is expected to be issued in 2019.